Domus Sketches

Here are some of the early sketches we had for our Domus design. These were done in the first week sothese were the basic ideas we developed throughout the last few weeks.

Initially we played with the idea of a glass box that had large eaves for shade but effectively what we had designed was a greenhouse, not appropriate for living in! So the next stage was ventilation. We louvered all of the walls and incorporated bi-fold doors so the internal spaces could become part of the external balcony.

As both a design feature and means of collecting water, we worked in a water feature that wenyt from ceiling to floor through the living area and was a glass rectangular prism. Eain water collected from the roof would travel down this shaft of glass and effectively a water fall was created internally. The pitch of the roof for this can be seen in the first image but this became useless as there was not nearly enough shade. So a traditional pitch was decided on and we had our overall.

Internally we wanted to design the 'private' spaces from the living areas. We did this by the use of two shafts that ran north/south and east/west. This allowed us to close of the bedrooms and bathroom/toilet so we could have full glass walls. Into these shafts we used shelving that defined the shape of them so we could maximise the space. All working back to the theme of the semester...'Mimilism'.

As can be seen through these images we played with a few forms early before working together what we liked and creating a 'hybrid' of our designs. What we achieved in the end was a design that we felt satisfied the brief both architecturally and in terms of the climate, hot/humid.

FINAL POSTERs

and here they are, the posters took a lot of work, but we are very very happy with the outcome. it was a busy assignment which involved the many positives and negative of teamwork.

thats all from Copacabana Team 1, leave a comment about what you all thought

Copacabana Team 1 domus development

Hey Everybody,

Marcel and Alison here with you, thought we should put our input into our teams Domus blog report. We are looking at the other side of our domus design (the few things jonathan didn't mention).

Initial Ideas:

we began our group work by each developing initial sketches and ideas in regards to DOMUS.


we all had the same basic idea of lots of ventilation in order to reduce the humidity. We thought about screens as shown in the image above which would allow the wind or air to flow through creating cross ventilation. while also considering the lifting of the building above the ground to allow it to gain maximum effect of wind passing from the bottom.


We then played with the idea of a ridge cap idea, which allowed the hot air to rise and escape at the apex of the building.

Refinement Stage 1

In order to take our design to the next stage we decided to merge our ideas and suggest which ones were most effective.
through our research we also saw that the use of a variety of heights in humid areas allows for the greater flow of air in a building.

the design above was one of the next stage ideas which showed the use of a vented roof, while also varying the heights to allow for greater cross ventilation. we decided that the curved roof shape would possibly build up the air at the top, so it was scrapped and a new roof was required

Refinement STAGE 2

This stage saw much discussion about the roof, we went around in circles playing around with a rock look (see Jonathan's post) and the armadillo look, which would have allowed for broken roof sections allowing for ventilation and varied angles for the solar panelling. hence the louvred idea below:

we thought the water tank could be best used below ground as it would be cooled down by the thermal mass around the tank.

despite the problem of the roof we were happy with the long plan idea, which we broke into 2 wings higher then the central living area. one of the wings was to be the bedrooms and the bathroom, while the other was to be a relaxing seated area (below) which would allow for a great area to 'lounge' around in the heat.

Our design developed further into a simple roof while we focused on our room planning and environmental systems (note Jonathan's post)

Marcel and Alison

resolution of domus

Subtle individuallity was given to each of the 3 bedrooms in designing a different rhythm into the batton screens which seperate personal space from the passageway. Rhythm adds a certain consistency to the oppressive conditions, and a calming effect. It was also used with delicate members in the shutters to soften incoming light.

The short section shows the passageway to the north and the sleeping quaters to the south. The passageway provides a weather buffer zone. It can be seen that the shutters when open act like blinkers to the east and west sun rays. The deep set reveals help temper the light. Venturi pressure equalizers flush out hot air in the roof space. The 15 degree slope of the roof gives the least wind resistance.


model from the south east














model from above

first domicile thoughts

Hot and humid was our groups chosen climate zone. We chose the long plan as the basis of our design as it allowed small wall exposure to the east and west sun, and the roof can be used primarily as a large shading device. The site was in Kakadu National Park, an area with dramatic seasonal changes. Dry south westerly winds from March through to October complement milder temperatures, while December through February is the big wet, and northerly cyclonic winds are common.

Glen Murcutt's Marika Alderton house was studdied. His ingenious knee joints, fintering of light and large blinkers placed down the nothern edge of this building brought to mind the disparity between Melbourne's and Kakadu's climate. Rather allowing northern light in, we had to keep it out; and because of the cyclonic winds, we chose to make it a sinewy structure. Raised up, it could allow cooling cross winds through, and a large shaded work/live area below.

To create interest and adaptability within the discipline of the long plan, the eastern bedrooms expand into the passageway.

The western end was the living area. The kitchen transformed into a bar which could serve this curved timber lounge. Inspiration coming from the timber pole huts constructed in rice fields around SE Asia which are raised to take advantage of the breeze.

minima context

site context













sofa/bed

















kitchen/storage

minima take off

From a minimal point of departure to an understanding of minima. I wanted to explore ways to alleviate the sensation of restriction within a small self contained unit. it was a relief to be able to explore materiallity and more pliable forms of construction. In designing a mobile living capsule for 1 person, the design of transport, temporary dwelling, space craft, etc, could be drawn from, which enabled us to gleen ideas from many sources.

Three initial ideas were tested, and from these one was chosen. The chosen idea had much more flexibility, and because it could be folded down to fit onto a car trailer.
It's strengths were its adaptability to weather: ability to disolve the divide between indoor & outdoor space, internal adaptability and availability of storage space.