Experimental house 2 | 100 Mile House

Experimental house 2

The 100 Mile House


Architects
Irem Cabbaroglu and Serra Avsever

Project Architect
Gudjon Thor Erlendsson

Year2012

Parametric Sustainable Design

The contextual computation process attempts to become a congregation of local and global context

The premises:

The premises for this sustainable design were simple. That all material and expertise had to come from within 100 miles of the project site in Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. Hence this presented an opportunity to experiment with the impact of computational design methods on to a passive house. So the concept behind this is to design a code or a sustainable design process. Leading to the ability to be able to quickly implemented a sustainable proposal on any given site.

This approach runs counter to the modernist modular design approach. Meaning that the building is not made from mass produced standard components. Rather, the proposal uses robotic and CNC manufacturing to build a mass customized home.

The process:

Establishing boundary conditions including the selection of local materials was the first variables. Leading to the choice of cedar wood, rammed each and turf. These were all sourced from within a 100 miles of the site. Furthermore the design uses passive and energy production technology that is integrated into the design. Which is also formulated through optimization algorithms in a computer model. This algorithms tests different designs, looking for maximum solar gain for passive heating. Secondary variable in this test was a photovoltaic power production. The result is a type of optimal and off-grid proposal for a sustainable home.
These variables will all change with a different site, including environmental and material options. Elements of the process can also be added or subtracted depending on local availability

Video

Building geometry is optimised for solar gain