Week 8-Concept development

Initial ideas for domus brief:
This week we came up with our own 3 concepts for the domus design. The research done in the previous week on climate, sustainable design and being off the grid helped the initial design phase as to what kind of design would be suitable for the climate and how to be self-sufficient. Also I looked through alot of architecture books and magazines for design ideas and also to research as to what type of houses would be suitable in the environment;what design aspects worked for the houses and what didn't.

I looked through architecture books and magazines for houses and commercial buildings that are in the hot humid environment as well as houses that I thought were inspiring.

An architect that I find really inspiring is Gabriel Poole, who is very much environmentally conscious in his architecture. The first house was one that he designed for himself, located on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Using lightweight materials and a two layer roof for ventilation purposes it's an ideal house for a hot humid environment.

















Other houses that are in the hot humid environment are:
Highgate Hill House, Brisbane-Brit Anderson and Peter O-Gorman


















Hammond House, Queensland-Clare Design

















Liveris House, Northern Territory-Hully Liveris














Prowse House, Cairns-David Langston














Gloster House, Noosa Heads-Gabriel Poole and Michael Gloster













Taringa House, Queensland-Rex Addison














Commercial-
Bowali visitor centre and headquarters, Kakadu National Park-Glenn Murcutt














Other awesome features that I find would be suitable for a hot humid environment and just details that I really like are-
This set-up for an entertaining area would be perfect for the hot-humid, all about bringing the outdoors in, being able to close or open up the house as the weather permits.




























Idea 1:














Idea 2:
















Idea 3:

Notes from "team Alie, Alex and Amy" team meeting 27/4/07

Domus Concept 1,2,3 by Amy.

Concept 1













Concept 2

















Concept 3

Team AAA eeh?
Alex, Amy, Alie

Our team chose the hot humid environment for our climate zone as we thought that it would be an interesting climate to do, something that we weren't familiar with and we also thought that it could generate many interesting and different designs.

Landscape:
As you can see from the pictures it's a really diverse landscaping from scrub like land to an abundance of vegetation.

Aspect of the brief analysed: -Climate -Energy efficient design
Climate:
In this region there are two types of seasons the dry and the rain seasons. During the dry season dry southerly and easterly trade winds are predominant. The humidity is relatively low. The rain season is characterized by warm temperatures but most of the rain is predominantly in the monsoonal troughs.

Energy efficient design:
Designing for a hot humid environment encounters very different challenges that we would encounter here, in-fact the complete opposite.
The humidity is high in a hot humid environment so air movement is crucial, to help perspiration to evaporate. The major factor in the environment is cooling of the house, the most energy efficient way to do this is passive cooling. It is least expensive means of cooling a home and has the lowest environmental impact. Passive cooling maximises the efficiency of the building envelope by minimising heat gain from external environment and facilitating heat loss to the following natural sources of cooling, air movement, cooling breezes, evaporation an dearth coupling.
















Picture of a hot-humid house design




Some design aspects that could be included to help with this include:
-Windows opposite each other to allow cross-ventilation
-Long narrow floor-plan in sleeping zone, to maximise through ventilation in bedrooms
-Open-plan living areas with high ceilings, to maximise air movement and reduce radiant heat to occupants
-Appropriate windows and glazing to minimise unwanted heat gains and maximise ventilation. -Elevate the house to increase exposure to cooling breezes
-Provide a large overhanging roof in all directions to minimize direct solar heat gain
-Orientation for exposure to cooling breezes















Cooling diagram-hot humid environment.




-Increase natural ventilation by reducing barriers to air paths through the building
-Large areas of louvered windows for ventilation

Ventilation diagrams




-Use light construction as the house will cool down quicker
-Use of light coloured roofs and walls to reflect more solar radiation and reduce heat gain.
-Use two layers of insulation to reflect radiant heat and prevent heat loads from reaching structure -Shading the walls especially the west and east













Diagram for shading, for hot humid house design


-Maximise north facing walls and glazing
-Minimize all west and east glazing and wall areas


Aspect of the brief analyzed: -off the grid

A self-sufficient stand alone system are more complex than a grid connected system and the main components include:
-a renewable energy source
-a control equipment for battery charging and back-up power source operation
-storage batteries
-an inverter
-a generator set-up for emergency back-up

















Diagram of a stand alone power system

Renewable electricity:
There are many different options available for renewable energy so our domus design can be off the grid.


1-Photovoltaic panels
Convert sunlight into electricity, little maintenance and no moving parts. There are both solar cell systems and solar module systems.

2-Wind generator
Domestic wind generators are usually stand alone power systems and designed to charge a battery bank

3-Micro Hydro Generators
Convey the mechanical energy of flowing water into electrical energy



















Water re-use and minimizing water use:
There are many different systems available are here are just a few options on how to re-use and minimize water for the domus design

Black water:
Can be treated then used on the garden areas, but a good treatment system is ideal

Grey water:
Needs to be filtered through a system before being treated also in another system, than can be stored for later use in the house or for outdoor use.

Waterless toilets:
There are two types of waterless toilets a continuous composting toilet and batch composting toilets.

1-Composting toilet:
Consist of a single container in which excrement is deposited, and decomposes as it moves slowly through the container. It is then removed as compost from the end product chamber.

Diagrams of a composting toilet system


2-Batch composting toilet:
Batch CT's consist of two or more containers that are alternated so that the 'active' container is being used while the pile in the 'fallow' container has time to compost without the addition of fresh excrement and the potential for re-contamination.

Ilya's Project 2 - Minima

Physical Model 1:20

Ilya's Project 2 - Minima

Minima: Design a self-contained, demountable, re-locatable, living capsule for one person.

From my last entry for this project 2 (minima), you would know that the chosen site has a few challenges which are the two huge palm trees and the steep slope.

In this entry, I would like to show you my design sketches and the three minima posters that I have done for the presentation.

Below, are some of my sketches of architectural concepts:

And here are my design posters:

Poster 1: Understanding the Concept

Poster 2: Exploration and Design Process

A clearer view of the drawings

A conceptual sketch of my ideas

Poster 3: Orthographic Projections