Hasta La Ideas

Light filters into rooms through chunky chimneys at this dark grey house in Ireland, which is behind the third door of our A-Zdvent calendar of houses named after letters. Read more about C-House »

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by Dot Architecture and Soc-Arc appeared first on Dezeen.

Today’s window in our A-Zdvent calendar of houses named after letters of the alphabet is B House, a hillside cabin in Japan that generates all its own energy and heating designed by San Francisco firm Anderson Anderson Architecture. Read more about B House »

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by Anderson Anderson Architecture appeared first on Dezeen.

Despite being surrounded by electricity pylons, this hillside cabin in Japan by San Francisco firm Anderson Anderson Architecture generates all its own energy and heating using photovoltaic panels and a ground-sourced heat pump (+ slideshow).

Named B-House, the single-storey building is positioned on a slope overlooking Kumamoto, so Anderson Anderson added a wall of glazing to the rear facade that gives residents a view out across the city from the living room, study and bedroom.

The house was built on a tight budget and sustainability was key to the design. “The extremely modest budget required a close collaboration of the architects and builder to achieve a high quality, off-site fabricated timber frame construction meeting high sustainability standards,” explain the architects.

The edge of the roof is tilted southwards to maximise sunlight to the photovoltaic panels, while integrated channels collect rainwater so that it can be reused.

There is no air conditioning, so when the temperature increases residents can slide open the glazed north-facing walls.

There are only clerestory windows on the southern facade, which allow hot air to escape and prevent the unnecessary heat gain that would occur with larger windows.

The whole house sits on a thick concrete base, while the walls and roof were constructed using locally sourced timber.

The house was completed in 2009, but hasn’t been widely published.

Other sustainable houses we’ve featured include a pavilion-like house in Germany that generates all its own power, as well as a concept for a house that is entirely self-sufficient.

See more stories about houses in Japan, including a concrete residence with barely any windows.

Photography is by Chris Bush.

Above: floor plan – click to see larger image

Above: section – click to see larger image

Above: south elevation – click to see larger image

Above: west and east elevations – click to see larger image

Above: north elevation – click to see larger image

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Anderson Anderson Architecture appeared first on Dezeen.

Vietnamese studio Vo Trong Nghia Architects plans to address the housing crisis in Vietnam by introducing modular homes that use cheap local materials and are easy to assemble.

Housing areas in the country have been expanding at a rapid pace over the last ten years but according to the architects many families still live in houses that have less than ten square metres in floor area.

“The project started as voluntary work, responding to the serious housing issue for low income classes in Vietnam,” Vo Trong Nghia Architects‘ Masaaki Iwamoto told Dezeen. “We inspected Mekong Delta Area, where the housing problems for the poor are very serious.”

The architects came up with a concept for a house with a lightweight steel structure, before building full-size prototypes of a house and office with layered walls of corrugated polycarbonate and bamboo.

“If we make the house with concrete and bricks, which is the most typical structure in south-east Asia, it can be very dangerous even though the house itself is strong, just because of the soft and weak condition of the ground,” said Iwamoto. “So we decided to design a lightweight structure within a squeezed budget.”

On the assumption that bathroom and kitchen facilities will be located outside, the buildings are designed as single rooms where living, sleeping and dining areas are divisible through changes in the floor level or by drawing curtains.

Beds fold down from the side walls and can also be used as seating areas and each residence can be extended to allow extra room for growing families.

To reduce construction costs, residents are invited to contribute to the construction process, plus to reduce living costs each house will be equipped with natural ventilation systems and rainwater harvesting facilities.

Now they’ve built the prototypes, the architects plan to develop the design to make it even more affordable. “Another possibility is to utilise cheap local materials such as coconuts leaves for walls or roof,” said Iwamoto, “and we will try to improve and enhance the indoor environment more, without using a power supply.”

“Some of our friends have already shown their interest to apply this prototype as a voluntary investment,” he added. “We are trying to find out the way to realize it.”

This isn’t the first sustainable architecture project by Vo Trong Nghia Architects. Other projects we’ve featured include a house with a vertical garden and a school with sheltered open-air corridors.

We’ve also interviewed principal architect Vo Trong Nghia about his plans to reduce the energy crisis in both residential and public buildings. See all our stories about Vo Trong Nghia Architects.

Photography is by Hiroyuki Oki.

Here’s a project description from Vo Trong Nghia:

According to the statistics, the quantity of total housing area in Vietnam has been increased tenfold in the last decade. However, many families are still living in very small houses, some of which are less than 10 square meters. It is an important issue for Vietnam to provide houses for low-income classes.

The aim of this project is to propose a prototype house for low-income classes in the Mekong Delta area. By minimizing the functions of the house and using low cost materials throughout, the construction cost of a house can be brought down to as little as about 3200USD. Living expenses will also be reduced by using natural resources and energies.

Above: site plan – click above for larger image

Two prototypes were experimentally constructed in Dong Nai province, on the construction site of a Kindergarten project designed by Vo Trong Nghia Architects. The first house, with a floor area of 22.5 square meters, was designed as a model home, the second, measuring 18 square meters, was designed as a site office for the Kindergarten, showing the flexibility of this prototype.

Above: house floor plan – click above for larger image

On the assumption that the bathroom and kitchen are placed outside and shared with several families, the house has minimum space for living, eating and sleeping. The plan was designed to be adjustable toward the longitudinal direction, allowing for future expansion of family members and functions. Its interior is a simple one-room space, articulated by curtains and differences in level of the floor. The floor rises higher in part, creating minimum furniture such as a desk.

Above: house front elevation – click above for larger image

The other distinctive feature is the installation of folding beds, which allow the dwellers to sit on the floor during the day. These beds can also be transformed into sofas if required.

Above: house rear elevation – click above for larger image

In order to reduce the construction cost, dwellers are encouraged to participate in the construction process. The structure of the prototype house is, therefore, a lightweight steel frame, which is easy to assemble without the use of machines, nor special techniques. Considering the recyclability of materials, wet joints are avoided as possible. The roof is supported by truss-beams composed of steel bars, which minimize steel material and give ideal pitch for waterproofing.

Above: office floor plan – click above for larger image

The envelope of the house is composed of a polycarbonate panel wall and corrugated FRP panel roof, and bamboo louvers are set inside of it. Both materials are available everywhere in Vietnam and are cheap, light and replaceable. Bamboo is rapid-growing and therefore the eco-friendly material.

Above: office front elevation – click above for larger image

Translucent envelope and bamboo louvers filter harsh direct sunshine in the tropical climate. The interior is filled with diffused light and reduces the need for artificial lighting, dramatically reducing electricity consumption. There is also a gap between the roof and the wall, which has the function of evacuating the hot air. As the whole space is naturally ventilated there is no need for an air conditioner to be installed in this house. A pent roof was designed to collect rain water for daily use in the dry season. Utilizing blessings of nature, dwellers can save great amount of energies, resources and therefore money.

Above: office rear elevation – click above for larger image

Project Name: Low Cost House
Location: Dong Nai Province, Vietnam
Competion: 08/2012
Architect Firm: Vo Trong Nghia Architects
Principal architect’s Name: Vo Trong Nghia, Masaaki Iwamoto
Architect’s Name: Kosuke Nishijima
Contractor: Wind and Water House JSC
Client: Wind and Water House JSC
Floor area Floor.1: 22.5m2, Floor.2: 18m2

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Vo Trong Nghia Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

From certain angles this performance centre in Belgium has a colourful stripy facade, but from others it appears camouflaged amongst the surrounding trees (+ slideshow).

Designed by Spanish architect Carlos Arroyo, the Academie MWD is a school of music, theatre and dance at the Westrand Cultural Centre, which is located within a suburban neighbourhood in Dilbeek, outside Brussels.

The architect wanted to come up with a design that mediated between the Westrand building to the west, gabled houses to the east and woodland to the north. “The question was how to harmonize the different situations, and at the same time produce a building with a quality of its own,” he says.

Arroyo added a system of louvres to the facade so that, like a lenticular image, the appearance differs depending on the viewing angle.

When facing north-east visitors see a life-size image of trees but when facing south-west they see a mixture of blues and greys that capture the colours of the adjacent building, designed in the 1960s by Belgian architect and painter Alfons Hoppenbrouwers.

Viewing the building straight-on reveals yet another image; a spectrum of colourful stripes and rectangles that are derived from one of Hoppenbrouwers’ paintings, while the rear of the building is clad in a similar variation of metal panels with contrasting finishes.

To reference the nearby houses, the massing of the building is broken up into an irregular series of gables. ”The new building is a soft transition between the scale of the houses and the imposing presence of CC Westrand,” says Arroyo.

The entrance is located beneath a chunky cantilever that contains the main auditorium and theatre, while studios, practice rooms and classrooms are spread across two floors at the other end of the building.

Other brightly coloured buildings on Dezeen include a kindergarten with rotating facade panels and a public passage and gallery with a large stained glass window.

See more cultural buildings on Dezeen »

Photography is by Miguel de Guzmán.

Here’s some more information from Carlos Arroyo:

Academy of Music, Word and Dance in Dilbeek, Belgium

The west part of the Dutch speaking belt around Brussels has an informal cultural capital in Dilbeek, home of the Westrand Cultural Centre and its various facilities. The Academie MWD reinforces this polarity, offering education in music, theatre and dance, as well as an auditorium-theatre.

The Urban Challenge

The new building is located in the centre of Dilbeek, in a difficult context with a variety of contrasting situations: south, the main square (Gemeenteplein) with the City Hall and local restaurants; west, CC Westrand, with its monumental volumes designed by A. Hoppenbrouwers at the height of Brutalism; north, Wolfsputten, a protected area of natural forest; and east, a compact group of suburban villas with pitched roofs following the archetypal image of the farm.

The question was how to harmonize the different situations, and at the same time produce a building with a quality of its own.

First, with the volume. The new building is a soft transition between the scale of the houses and the imposing presence of CC Westrand.

Then form. The gables along the street reflect the houses on the other side, but then become a great cantilever that looks CC Westrand face to face.

Thirdly, with function. The only entrance is on the side of Westrand. Nothing happens in the other perimeters, being either domestic or natural. It is only on the side facing the cultural centre, where the auditorium rises from the ground, creating a covered public space leading to the academy entrance.

Finally, with image. The dynamic facade creates an optic effect. If you walk towards trees you see trees. It is an image of Wolfsputten. If you walk in the opposite direction, see the colours Hoppenbrouwers. Alfons Hoppenbrouwers, architect of CC Westrand, was a colour expert. He spent much of its time painting, and in fact, the facade of the new building, as you walk towards that of Hoppenbrouwers is based on one of his paintings. His two-dimensional work is a combination of mathematics and colour. Lines, measure, proportion, geometry, rhythms, colour and texture. Those are also the ingredients of the music, and in fact several of his paintings are interpretations of musical pieces, e.g. the one that composes the elevation of the Academie. It is the Canon for 36 voices by the 15th century Flemish polyphonist Johannes Ockeghem.

The rest of the elevations reproduce the same rhythms, but in metal panels with different finishing textures, reflecting the sky and the forest.

Function and Flexibility

As the cantilevered auditorium rises above the covered public space, a transparent entrance leads to the main lobby. This is therefore at the centre of the building, which facilitates the separation of the public functions of the auditorium and the more intimate function of the Academy. Both share the main services, reception, cloakroom, toilets and dressing rooms, which are also connected directly to the auditorium stage at the top level.

The classrooms, ballet and orchestra room are arranged on two levels with a central spine which includes the structure, technical services, and circulation, along a corridor that is wide enough to manoeuvre grand pianos and reorganize the function of the classrooms.

Above: ground floor plan – click to see larger image

People

Place making is one of the keys of the project. The covered public space below the auditorium is a clear example: even before the building was finished, this space has been used by local associations in weekend activities. Inside, the lobby can be used for receptions, which may be supported from the teacher’s kitchen through a direct door.

At the other end of the building there is another clearly recognizable place, a double staircase with benches and forest views. It’s easy to imagine people sitting on the benches, perhaps waiting for a lesson to start, or for someone to finish their practice, or just talking.

Above: first floor plan – click to see larger image

Energy and resources

Volume and thermal inertia: The compact form reduces the surface/volume ratio and energy loss. The thin load-bearing walls are visible inside the building, providing good thermal inertia, and covered with a thick blanket of continuous insulation on the outside, where it is most efficient. The separating walls between classes are also massive both for the thermal inertia as for necessary soundproofing.

Above: section – click to see larger image

Natural light: The windows are arranged to provide just the right amount of diffuse daylight, while minimising thermal losses. The fins on the southeast facade capture light, reflecting it inwards with different angles. The interiors are white so as to reflect light in all directions. Even the auditorium can function with only natural light.

Construction materials were selected to ensure maximum respect for the environment. The horizontal structure is laminated wood, fully FSC certified. The construction details are simple, no covering materials: the finish is simply white paint, showing the texture of the material on which it is applied. Rainwater is harvested on the roofs and used for the flushing toilets.

The Academie MWD opened on September 8, 2012.

Above: elevation – click to see larger image

Architect: Carlos Arroyo Arquitectos, Madrid
Associate Architects: ELD partnership, Antwerp
Structure: Norbert Provoost, Ghent
Engineering: Ingenium, Bruges
Contractor: Kumpen
Site manager: Pieter Broekaert
Client: City of Dilbeek

Situation: Dilbeek, Belgium
Surface: 3554.76 m2
Proj. budget: 5.3 M €
Final cost: 5.4 M €
Competition: 2006 Open Oproep
Construction: December 2010 – April 2012
Inaugurated: September 8, 2012

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Carlos Arroyo appeared first on Dezeen.