Residential
Brick House
A climatically adaptive single-family residence, the building explores techniques that integrate natural ventilation, solar shading, and passive cooling while being almost self-sufficient in terms of its water and energy requirements.
Located in the South Indian town of Srivilliputhur, the project occupies a corner plot in a group of plot layouts on the outskirts. While the corner plot offers a prominent location, the longest side exposed to the South would result in increased solar heat gain throughout the day.
To reduce heating from the sun and to increase natural ventilation, the house is designed as a series of parallel walls to channel the predominant wind directions. They also protect the interior spaces from being heated. The different rooms are arranged between these parallel walls as interconnected spaces.
"The house is designed as a series of parallel walls to channel the predominant wind directions"
The different rooms are organised around a double-height central space. This space brings soft, diffused light to the interiors, facilitates stack-effect ventilation, and provides a connection to the different rooms within the house.
Brick Jaalis wrap the window openings on the eastern and western sides. They provide shade while allowing air to pass through. They also become the defining feature of the house. The roofs connect to each other. Rainwater runoff from the roof is collected and stored to be reused, while enough solar power generation provisions are integrated for the house to be self-sufficient. The high-quality country bricks are left exposed on the exterior which is low on maintenance over the lifetime of the building.
Project Details
Site
Srivilliputhur, Tamilnadu
Design
2020-2021
Status
Unbuilt
Program
Residence
Project type
Commission
Team
Kapilan Chandranesan, Saranya Selvakumar
Advisors
Siva Structural Consultancy