3 Exemplar Houses

Suitcase House
40°20'23N 116°02'46E
Nangou Valley, Badaling north of Beijing CHINA

Gary Chang (EDGE Design)

"Limitless variation can only emerge from simplicity. I planned for the Suitcase House to be more than a residence. Its character is not limited to space for living and working, it is a transformative environment. From the most complex partitioning, to the most minimal space, it is defined by how people use it. Its life is bound up in perpetual resonance and interaction with people whose lifestyles are constantly changing.” Gary Chang

Lefaivre, L. and A. Tzonis. 2003. Critical regionalism: architecture and identity in a globalized world. Munich; New York: Prestel.





Balaam House
33b Harbour Road
Hamilton, AUSTRALIA

Shaun Lockyer (Arkhefield)
“To design a family home that explored the opportunities within architecture”. We were challenged by a very public realm within which to build a house while trying to reconcile the idiosyncratic issues of view, privacy, security and sanctuary. Shaun Lockyer

www.arkhefield.com.au





Lambert House
86-88 Main Avenue
Wilston, AUSTRALIA

Russell Hall

Lambert House is located on a suburban hillside overlooking Brisbane. It is also known as the Carpenter Hall House and was designed for the Architect Russell Halls sister. The house spans over 5 levels and in plan is a dodecagon(12 sided shape). The building is reminiscent of the early Queensland Lighthouses and refracts light throughout the internal spaces of the building.
P. Bingham-Hall

Bingham-Hall, P. 2001. A Short History of Brisbane Architecture. Sydney: Presaro Press.

Satelite images from:

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

See reference list for photo references

Suitcase House

Here are a few photos of the Suitcase House:

Quick Preliminary Sketches

Here are just a few quick sketches I did to get the ball rolling.

Plans, Sections, Isometric and Interior Perspective Drawings

This was my first attempt at the drawings of Suitcase House. It was suggested that the line weights and scanning quality could be improved.

Isometric View














Plan

















Long Sections













Short Sections









Interior Perspective

2nd Attempt of Suitcase House Drawings

These drawings are the final versions of the Suitcase drawings, with more emphasise put into line weights.

Floor Plan


Long Sections


Short Sections

A House is a Delightful Experience

Stimulating - The Suitcase House is a different experience compared to other hotels. It has the ability to adapt to the occupants and provides a stimulating sense of mystery by asking the user, is this a bare room or is there more to it?

FLOW

Shape - The lines of the Suitcase House replicate the lines found in the forest surrounding the building. The shape however is in stark contrast to the landscape and protrudes out of the mountain.

Engaging - The building requires that the users actively engage with the building in order for it to function. With out user envolvement the House cannot function properly.

Lighting


Texture/Colour - The colour and texture of Suitcase House allow it to almost camoflage itself into its surrounds. There are local timbers and stone used throughout to emphasis the connect of the building with nature.

Presence - Although hidden amongst the trees this building still has a strong presence amongst the landscape. In close proximity to the Great Wall of China, the building has been designed to maximise these views.

MYSTERY

A House is a Container of Human Activities

FUNCTIONALITY - Casting a question mark on the proverbial image of the house, the Suitcase House Hotel attempts to rethink the nature of intimacy, privacy, spontaneity and flexibility. It is a simple demonstration of the desire for ultimate adaptability, in pursuit of a proscenium for infinite scenarios, a plane of sensual (p)leisure. http://www.archphoto.it/IMAGES/garychang/chang.htm

Ergonomics - Mid level compartments fulfill most furniture requirements therefore little is needed. The furniture that is in the house is mobile and lends the house to be highly adaptive.

Purpose - To provide a space that can transform and suit the needs of each user, whether it is as a dining room, lounge, bedroom or dance floor.

Dynamic Spaces - The house has been design to adapt to different functions with a total upper floor space of 220m2 (44m x 5m).

Central Space - Due to its unique design the central space of the house is the entire top floor. It can be changed and manipulated to conform with the users requirements. FLEXIBILITY - A Metamorphic volume

Specifications/Restraints - It transforms effortlessly from a designers studio to accomodation for a variety of family groups. The Suitcase House can effortlessly transform from an open space to a sequence of rooms. Longevity - The materials of the house are extremly hard wearing and suitable for frequent use. The interior and exterior facades of the house are local timbers with an internal steel frame supporting the structure.

INTERCONNECTIVITY - Although users may be in different parts of the house they are still connected through the open plan layout.

Spacial Relationships - The top stratum is the main living space with the ability to change room configurations due to the vertical layering of the building. The bottom stratum is reserved for services, storage and maids' quarters.

Privacy/Noise/Traffic - The Suitcase House is located in a semi rural setting surrounded by a forest, there is a small road on the southern side of the building which creates minimal noise and provides easy access to the building.

Indoor/Outdoor Connection - On the top stratum the windows of the building can be easily opened to allow the surrounding forest to become part of the building.

A House is an Environmental Filter

A Peaceful Retreat - The Suitcase House is also known as the Suitcase Hotel, it can accomodate up to 9 adults, 4 children and 2 maids (http://www.ejmartdesign.com/sh.html).


Responsiveness to the Environment - The Suitcase House is made completely from local Materials.

Visual impact - It is in stark contrast to the natural forms of the surrounding mountains.
Adaptability - The building shapes and conforms to its occupants as this animation demonstrates http://www.ejmartdesign.com/sh.html (Research>Suitcase House>Analysis)

Room Functions

This quick diagram illustrates the different functions of each section in the Suitcase House.

Gary Chang's Hong Kong Apartment

Here is a video of Gary Chang's space saving Hong Kong apartment:

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/videos/worlds-greenest-homes-hong-kong-space-saver.html

His space saving ideas maximise the 32sqm of his apartment and the vertical layering offered further inspiration for my cabin design.

Another "Suitcase House"

This is another example of a "Suitcase House" that I found. It uses a similar method of hiding different room functions in underutilised spaces to maximise potential floor space. The different between the houses is that Chang's House uses horizontal layers were as this house uses vertical layering.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=979aEAj8OUU

Site Analysis

Charette City which is part of Urban Utopia is located in a Sub-Tropical Climate, in the Southern Hemisphere. As Brisbane is also a Sub-Tropical climate located in the Southern Hemisphere I have based by analysis on Brisbane data.
Figure 1.This Site Plan of Urban Utopia shows the topographical layout of the area, in particular the site location, Smart Stream.


Figure 2.This zoomed in Site Plan shows in greater detail the topography of the land. It also shows the location of the 3 Exemplar Houses and the proposed Cabin Location.


Figure 3.This enlarged Site Plan shows the access points to the exemplar houses as well as the proposed cabin. The forest has been coloured in a darker green and is located at south of Smart Stream. Above Smart Stream is an almost flat plan where Lambert House and Balaam House are located.



http://www.works.qld.gov.au/downloads/tdd/ss_house/sp_bris
http://www.windfinder.com/windstats/windstatistic_brisbane_airport.htm

Figure 4.The diagram on the left shows the sun over a property in Brisbane throughout the year. Sun angles and shadows can then be determined. The diagrams on the right show wind directions. The top diagram is in July and shows strong South Westerly winds. The bottom diagram is the Summer months and shows strong North Easterly winds. I have then designed my building with these factors in mind.


Figure 5.This site plan shows summer wind directions that have been calculated from Brisbane wind directions.

Figure 6.


Figure 7.

Figure 6 and 7 show the sun directions on the cabin in Winter and Summer.

Further Site Analysis

In this topographical Site plan I have used pictures from Google earth as they best represent the site. Located on the northern side of Parti Peak Hypothesis Heights follows a gentle downward slope to the north. Smart Stream passes close to the base of the mountain where the gradient of the mountain is significantly flatter. It was difficult to create a sight as each of the houses original site plans were very different. Suitcase House is located at the base of a mountain and juts out of the earth creating a dominating aspect on the landscape. It has no close neighbours and is surrounded by trees. In stark contrast Balaam House is located in a densely populated suburb of Brisbane with neighbours in close proximity. The building has been designed with views of the river in mind as is the Suitcase House which features views of the Great Wall of China in every room. Lambert House is located in the leafy Brisbane suburb of Wilston with neighbours in close proximity and a large undeveloped area to the east of the building. With these site constraints in mind I have placed the 3 exemplar houses onto Parti Peak in the closest to ideal location. The trees located on the peak surround most of suitcase house and extend to the northern bank around Carpenter Hall House, Balaam House however is on the outer edge of this forest and therefore still enjoys views of Smart Stream. I have decided to locate my cabin east of Suitcase House. Here it can enjoy the views of Smart Stream whilst also maintaining privacy amongst a sparsely populated forest.

Cabin Analysis

A HOUSE IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL FILTER





A HOUSE IS A CONTAINER OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES



A HOUSE IS A DELIGHTFUL EXPERIENCE

Room Relationships

In the suitcase house the rooms are all hidden away under the floor and used according to the tenants needs, for example a couple would have a much greater need for a study and library compared to a travelling group and a travelling group of people are going to require more bedrooms than a couple. Chang has cleverly design the house so that only the rooms required need to be opened and the rest can be hidden away. In my cabin design I have also tried to adopt this principle with a layout that maximises floor space by taking the elements only required by a couple and reducing the floor space to 75m2. The following diagram illustrates the links between public and private spaces and spaces that need to be accessible at the same time and those that don't need to be used at the same time.

Analysis and Preliminary Sketches of Cabin

I abandoned this method of sketching as I could not get the proportions right and used grid paper as seen below as it was much easier to get proportions correct.