The project is located in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, the fastest developing country in East Africa. The project was requested by our Client as adding a new floor to the existing house. There are many single-storey houses in the existing city housing stock. In many areas, homeowners want to add a new floor to their homes or expand their homes according to increasing needs with additional rooms on the ground floor. In order not to lose the garden area, our Client preferred to add the first floor in this project. The two-way roof slope of the existing house has been preserved on the 1st floor. By extending this roof slope towards the garden, a semi-open area is defined in the garden. The newly designed entrance door on the side facade is designed within a space that continues on the upper floor. Thus, the new entrance of the house, which will be used the most, is highlighted. The part of the existing roof slope extending to the garden, combined with the flat roof on the other side of the garden, defines an open space at 2 different elevations in the garden. The flat roof eave, which is one floor high, is the continuation of the ceiling floor of the single-storey house on the ground floor. White and stone covering was used as facade material. The use of volcanic stone, a local material, as stone cladding will make a significant contribution to the sustainability of the structure. The building doubled its usage capacity without loss of land by adding 4 new rooms, a family room and a master bedroom on the upper floor. Increasing the capacity of existing houses by adding floors instead of using natural lands for new projects is very important for sustainability.
Status: Unbuilt
Location: Kigali, RW
My Role: designer
