images waiting for admin approval...

There posted.

The house features a central courtyard which facilitates a passive ventilation system, and allows natural daylight to penetrate to the core of the dwelling. Sliding doors on the Ground floor open the courtyard to the living area. The graded cladding, enables the south of the facade to reflect solar heat in the summer and absorb heat on the north side in winter.

it is very hard to read anything from your drawings.talking about 96 houses, you should at least include a master plan (even a partial one would do).
from what i forced to read myself;
- seems like there are bunch of dark and un inspired spaces inside.
back of the house need the yard space more and set up like that, yet the yard space is paired with relatively blank space in the front effectively cutting the access to the open space.
-i have failed to see any eco friendly futures at least on your presentation.
-i also didn't see any innovative futures in terms of structural or environmental aspects of the building.
- just because you didn't design the master plan, you didn't bother to talk about it and it is cut out from your presentation brutally which makes your drawings look like photoshop 101. master plan is very important for this kind of projects and i would be very curious to see how your project relates to this 'communal space'.
-no plans of the house??

so far an 'e' for effort, until you talk more about your claims and describe the rest of the house.

congratulations neverthless.

what is the graded exterior cladding? metal panels?

sorry i didn't see your previous post.
so far your 'e' becomes 'c' with possibilities to reach higher levels. lets see the m.plan and some landscaping.

-the plans, section and site plan have been posted, the admin was approving them, take a look. See section for eco strategies, natural ventilation, daylighting, solar pannels on roof, grey water collection, exposed thermal mass, high insulation = low U-value, heat reflecting cladding... enough? :)
-The internal spaces will have lot's of natural daylight from the glazed court yard (see section)
-inspired? hmm maybe, its functional, social housing not millionare playboy mansion.
-not sure what you meen about the outside space? see plans now posted
-innovative? maybe not on a global architectural level, but for the east of Hull it is terrifyingly radical, its a matter of context, appropriate levels of progressiveness.
- master plan and house plans have just been posted, let me know what you think.

the cladding is a painted timber rain screen on to blockwork walls.

the masterplan landscaping is still being designed by the architect, there is going to be an childrens play area at the back of my house with swings and a sand pit. The landscaping for my rear yard... not though about it much yet, i think i might leave it for the occupants to make there own.

how about some constuctive crit to get me up to an 'A' now youve got all the drawings, what do you do? tutor? architect?

while i appreciate what the 'glazed courtyard' is doing for daylighting and ventilation, it's very much compromising your spaces, isn't it? in a volume this tight, it's usually a good strategy to try to pack all of the closed/service spaces to a perimeter wall so that you can maximize the use of the center for the largest spaces > leveraging the small amount of space you have and allowing for overlapping of functions.

the daylighting aspect of the courtyard could be dealt with through a strategic use of openings on the exterior walls. it appears that your entry drive side faces the northeast, probably an ideal side to let light in while not heating up the house too much, yet the upper floor here is strangely solid.

similarly, the southwest is relatively open, meaning that the warmer afternoon/summer sun will cook the interior. this side may be the place to keep the wall more solid, or provide shade over the openings if you want to maintain garden views. you could also provide some larger masses at this side which can collect heat to radiate in the evening.

the ventilation, i would think, might be solved another way, maybe a plenum above the rooms that could deliver rising hot air to a stack or something. it just seems a shame to make a series of tight spaces circulating around a hole right in the middle of the plan.

that said, if the courtyard was a given, i.e., couldn't be helped, the solution you've come up with for the arranging of spaces around it is very clever, compact, rigorous, and elegant.

an eco-friendly house, it would seem, would have as a goal to use as little resources as possible. therefore, the redundancy of the double-wall block and rain-screen solution seems questionable. could you not develop a system using only block which could similarly reflect/radiate under different conditions?

default

-from the interior perspectives section and plan, the central courtyard space seems detached from the rest of the house. though the idea is strong, and it may be effective... there seems to be little interactivity between the two pieces.
is the courtyard supposed to be useable space?
according to your sections, only the upper panes open? i am not convinced by your drawings that the ventilation and natural light gained from the courtyard justify it.

thats my biggest issue, other than that, the plans seem to be well laid out. ( though i think you could perhaps have squeezed more space into the courtyard to make it useable)

elevations are REALLY difficult to read.

also, what is the reason for differentiating the green from the grey on the persp... maybe its on there, i just cant read it.

congrats on the project

yes much better. looks like yours is one of the few stand alone units 'E' type and a very choice site in the master plan. your plan perhaps would be more appropriate for one of the sideless units, where the idea of a 'hollow' light/air core would be much usefull.
roof section works nicely with the well/int.court.
don't be so fuckin defensive. i am just responding your bits and pieces as they come in and my credentials have nothing to do with your thread. you should thank me instead for spending time on your request.

thanks for you comments

steven and lletdownl

The initial idea for the house was to create a hollow house, ie a court yard, wether or not it was the right choice for the site is your point i think, i dont know is the answer, lets disscus.

-removing it would obviously give me more space and flexibilty, if the spaces around it did not work i would remove it, but i think they do, so i didn't.

-three sliding doors on the ground floor, open the courtyard up to the living area to make it useble and one space (interaction, lletdownl). A sliding door on the south west elevation also opens and links the courtyard with the outside garden, through the lounge.

-ive choosen to run with it, i think the spacial experience gained, from the courtyard out weighs the space loss.

The climate in north east england is pretty grim, not much sun. So i chose to open up the south east elev to maximise solar gain. the chances or over heating are not much, in freak sunny days the sliding doors can open on the south east elev and the courtyard to create lots of stack ventilation.

Im aware of the logic about your proposed strategies, but i think my strategies suit the local climate.

Construction Materials: im thinking of using Celcon solar thin joint block work, they are about 90% ash, which is created as a by product from another energy genaration process. Pretty sustainable, there thin joints also mean less cold bridging and better u-value. The timber cladding is obviously renewable, so i dont think my buildings to bad with regards to embodied energy. I guess i could paint the block work instead, but i dont think the asthetics of this would be good.

The sliding doors on three sides of the courtyard provide interacivity and make the space usable.

Yes the elevations are squeesed on a bit, sorry

The green panels on the elevations has no function, just asthetic composition

thanks, keep them coming, this is informative, makes my consider things more

sorry i did not mean to sound agressive and defensive, im very greatfull for your input. i think my point are vaild though, i know you didn't see all postings,

great, glad to hear that the lower courtyard is useable, that makes it better...

did you ever consider making the second floor useable space? allowing the floor to be something that wouldnt interfere with the stack effect? like wooden slats? it could be interesting to allow the entire interior of the house to be opened up, have no space be completely indoors, or outdoors when the weather is right.
just a thought... maybe it doesnt apply to your climate, as you mentioned

default, also think of ways to bring the rain down to to the nice drain you have on the slab section, very luis kahn like. how is the water handled between the drain and the roof?

picture is a snapshot, but i worked on this open to air light well with fountain bottom sometime ago for an office space. when it rained heavily it leaked at the bottom of pivoted glass enclosure. floors were concrete so it didn't create too much problem. all in all it was too much of an effort for something that could be done other ways. but i am in los angeles and this is hollywood.
when it is done your project will be very photogenic. give yourself an A+..

i am in complete aggrement with lletdownl's push..

no, that is a very good idea, i with think about it and try and intergate it. THANKS. Timber slats or a metal grill would work, it may block a bit of light to the GF but may be worth it for the usable space. I could make it accessable from the bedroom and the corridor

thanks again!!!

what do you do student? architect? (im not checking credentials, just chating)

yes its a great idea,

photograh is same idea, i like it.

Im collecting roof water via a hidden gutter and downpipe in the courtyard which will be stored in a tank and used for flushing toilets etc. The drain at the bottom of the courtyard will go to sewer i think, or the same tank if we can do it.

yes leakage is an issue, it rains a lot in north england. im going to university in september so the architect will detail the building. hopefully we will have no problems, and the detailing will be sound.
my situation is slightly different as i dont have an existing floor to deal with, which would make it much easyier i would emagine. im no detail expert

thanks, what are you working on at the minute? can i see some pic's?

i am a student at IIT , you?

soon to be student at the bartlett, london in late september

are any of you projects on line?

do you have a web site, for the practice you work at or own?
abracadabra that is

i am working on a house right now. it will be low cost and seasonal for argentine coast.metal stud framing w/ metal roof and trianglar prefab trusses. owner is a filmmaker. 1800 sq.ft with rooms for visiting friends.

site

plan

axo

interior

great site, the spaces look very shigeru ban esque, he is my favourite architect. big, multifunctional open spaces. do the openings have some methord of opening and closing? is the design evolving or finalised? does the house engage with the clients occupation in any way.

thank you. it is on design devolopment stage. i am looking for roll up garage doors for the openings so the house can be completely sealed when he is not there and take the winter with minimum demage. client will do paintings on the blank wall at living room and project his films. with that, it will be as messy as a painters studio which i'd like it to be. there will be a long table somewhere with a lot of vine drinking. we might put some skylights over the long hallway.

yes, a strip of sky lights down the hallway would be good if he can afford it, there is a house by Mr Ban called, glass shutter house, its in meguro, Tokyo, Japan. the shutters may be of interest. im not shure if they would be robust enough or cheep enough, but is worth a look if you can find some pic,s.

do you mean this house? yes it is gorgeous. works so well with high up vews.
i am more a low tech operation though. i think you would need a long steel beam for that and the shutter glass would look far away for us for the budgetery reasons. anyway it is not about that kind of effect and goal for us. when the doors are open we'll have very generous indoor outdoor relationship. if i had the opportunity, i still would think that s. ban door would be an overkill for this project because where the house is situated.
check out these doors ant posted a while ago. now that would be more like it if we had the money.
http://www.archinect.com/forum/threads.php?id=P22541_0_42_0_C

no different house, they roll up into the roof space, that is achingly a beautifull house though, good luck anyway im gonna get some sleep, post some images when its finished so can take a look, next summer some time?

good night mon. nice to talk to you. tell your friends about archinect. better with more people and discussions.
good luck with your project too.

great name too. Default..

lo mr default.

ive spent most of the last decade working as architect in japan where this sort of tight space is everyday fodder...

it is a good effort . however, someone commented earlier and i agree that for a stand alone building of this size the logic of a courtyard is not strong. with immediate access to the exterior, natural ventilation, and light the reason for a small courtyard is not very convincing. more to the point,it is likely to feel rather cramped.

having said that if you want to have a courtyard and mix interior/exterior spaces you might consider that the openings needn't line up floor to floor if they are moved to an exterior wall (look at ryue nishizawa's work for examples). My point is that it is possible to use the logic of inhabitation to create semi-exterior spaces rather than force the rooms around the small core. with views to front and back, and possibly to the sides as well, why go hermit? In an urban rowhouse there is a logic to the move. in this development, not so sure.

The rationale that the courtyard is for nat ventilataion is also not convincing. the building is not deep enough to warrant it and long as you offer a route for air flow there shouldn't be a problem.

the courtyard space is a tradition in japan and part of the modern lexicon so i have seen examples similar to what you are doing and to be honest when the spaces are this cramped you either need to spend an enornous amount of time making it work, using stairs as rooms (a la ando tadao, etc), or else nix the central courtyard. or move it around so it doesn't feel so forced.

don't get me wrong, the design is pretty good all in all, and you should be proud of the work. but it won't hurt to take the ideas a bit further.

the renderings do not communicate a timber screen, more solid metal panel. the timber screen will add some needed textrure to the renderings

also, i second the idea of keeping but moving the courtyard

perhaps more of a U shape, with the metal grate between so both sides of the house can use the space

also the courtyard could connect directly to yard or garden

even with the U shape the timber screen can continue across the courtyard keeping the hollow/inclosed feeling

Houses like those should have little wooden outhouses nearby - in nature - with little crescent moons in the doors.

yes ok, there is a definate concensus that the courtyard and interior arrangement need work, but to keep it and allow the exterior/interior boundary bluring. To alter the spacial configurement to allow less tight spaces.

The proportion of the spaces is no tighter than the local vernacular and site context, (i will try and post some images on this thread, im not shure how it works) but this is no excuse, not to create a better plan in my house.

I will reasses and see what i can come up with, thanks for the input everyone.

Jump: I will take a look at ryue nishizawa's work, i have always thought about moving to Japan for a period once i qualify. Could you give me any advise?

thanks

looking forward to seeing final design.

nishizawa is, btw, working as partner with sejima but has his own office too. i think he is more into the inside outside thing than sejima.

on going to japan, i think the easiest way is to try and come first as a student and make contacts then. the europeans or americans that i know here are either banking execs or former students who went on to find positions in various fileds. there are scholarships and exchange programs around so should be possible. if you do part II at Bartlett am sure there are contacts through the profs or programs there.

alternatively you might try to get a scholarship to work abroad after graduating and offer to work for free for ito, sejima, et cetera. a fair number of folks doing that as well, though it comes down to luck whether they need staff.

many thanks

this online criting is very good, and works well i think. more people should do this.

don't forget to show us new images after making revisions

ok il try and get the timber cladding texture going on, i may change them to reycled plastic though

EVEN BETTER!