Triangular-shaped structure, and a sequence of angled rooms, create a Netherlands residence that delivers a pair of premium relationships.
“With the triangular form of South Home, we initially wished to create an optimum relationship between house and backyard,” says architect Daniel Venneman of the house in Almere, about 35 kilometres west of Amsterdam.
“It quickly grew to become obvious that this idea, oriented to the south, additionally completely matched the ambition to create an energy-neutral house,” provides Venneman, with the agency Woonpioniers, which interprets to residential pioneers.
Sustainability was a key design issue from the beginning of the challenge. Measuring 1,022 sq. toes, South Home (Zuidhuis in Dutch) features a sleeping space, rest room, kitchen and lounge on the principle ground and a sleeping space and music room on the higher ground. The 2 are related by a “lazy staircase,” with an extended, gradual rise.
By utilizing the area on the second ground, Venneman says they had been capable of make the general ceiling larger, whereas preserving the overall footprint of the home small — leaving extra space for the backyard.
As with all of their initiatives, Venneman says they attempt to use supplies that may be regrown. Except for the house’s concrete piles, plus one metal column and beam, the development of South Home is wooden; the outside facade wooden has been thermally handled. The partitions and roof are insulated with regionally grown flax. Window sheets are triple glazed. The roof is supplied with triple photo voltaic panels.
South Home, accomplished in 2019, took two years to design and construct.
Woonpioniers architect Daniel Venneman solutions a number of questions on South Home:
How did you intend this house in a different way with the intention to make it really sustainable?
The design was intensely co-designed with the inhabitants, Kees and Petie. We organized workshops wherein we actually bought to the core of their motivation to construct their very own home — the potential for making a permaculture backyard whereas changing into as self-sufficient as potential.
How did you maximize using pure gentle?
It’s really extra nuances than merely offering most daylight. The verandah blocks the solar in summer time, when the solar may be very excessive within the sky, whereas capturing the solar and photo voltaic warmth in winter when the solar stays decrease all through the day.
The home windows on the facet facades seize morning and night gentle superbly. On these moments the ceiling displays the sunshine inwards. So, greater than offering most daylight, the design form of doses the sunshine completely.
What had been the design and building challenges?
To make sure the monetary feasibility of the precise power idea, it was steadily determined throughout the course of to instantly outsource the project to numerous specialist subcontractors.
This meant the shoppers had been in the course of the development course of between the varied executing events. It meant quite a lot of additional group for us as an structure apply, however along with the shoppers we managed nicely.
To maintain South Home inside funds, the shoppers carried out a part of the work themselves.
Are the pure cooling and heating sources enough?
In winter, the warmth pump is required for the coldest days. Even then, power wanted for that’s produced by photo voltaic panels. From early spring to late harvest, the constructing works nicely with out it. In summer time, pure air flow and the heat-accumulating perform of the ground hold the home comfortably cool.
Do you see this because the design for the long run?
The home actually exhibits a constructive angle towards the energy-transition wanted to make our civilization extra sustainable. Our hope is that it’ll function an inspiring instance to individuals to construct extra in tune with the weather.