Project 6 - House on stilts

For this project we were given three weeks as opposed to our usual two to design something which Geoff had allocated us. Luckily for me I was excited by what Geoff had given me as it allowed me to explore many dimensions and hopefully come up with something a bit unusual and more exciting than some of my previous projects. 'A house on stilts' was what Geoff gave me to create. At first I thought this may seem a bit mundane as all I would be doing was designing a house and the putting stilts underneath it. However after extensive research I found out that stilts can do much more for a house than simply lower it off the ground. In fact I came to find that probably one of the most advanced houses in the world needed a stilt in order for it to function as it does today. By the end of the project I managed to create something which I was really pleased with and could actually see functioning as its purpose wants it to.

Kelong

This is a house built on stilts primarily for the purpose of fishing. There are six other types of stilt houses that I know of each with a different purpose. These range from providing some shade to protecting from deadly animals.

Horizontal stilts

This image shows how stilts don't have to be conventional. Depending on where the build is it may be sensible to have stilts coming from the side. If my project did not evolve how it did I would have tried to employ the use of stilts from different angles.

Heliotrope

This house on stilts is a concept designed by Rolf Disch a German architect. It has a single stilt and is optimised for energy efficiency. It has dozens of features making it so energy efficient and allowing it to produce six times the energy it uses. Amoung these are the obvious spinning solar panel on the top of the building. However my favourite is the meters and metres of metal cladding around the building which have to purpose of providing all the hot water for the building purely by being heated by sunlight.

Authors own

I decided to use the same idea of harnessing energy. However soon as many stilt houses are situated by water where there tends to be wind I decided to use wind turbines as my source of creating energy.

Authors own

Using illustrator I designed type of cladding which includes turbines already installed within the walls. This allowed me to quickly create many walls with this on.

Authors own

However after creating many thinking this would be the best way to harness energy I decided to use the cylindrical idea to create my final outcome. This is because it allows for wind to be used from any angle and also gives an unconventional shape.

Although the images do not show this very well one side of the build has a more concentrated amount of turbines which allows for the side which is windiest (the water-front side) to harness this energy efficiently.

Authors own

When thinking about materials to use I wanted to try and stick with the eco-friendly theme. However I realised that realistically I would probably have to use concrete to ground the building. Therefore this would be needed in the foundations and in the stilts. Moreover I decided to use steel to create a durable and robust frame. This could then be cladded with glass and wood depending on were each material would fit best.

Authors own

At first I was going to situate the building by the sea. However I decided to think a bit more radically and decided that I would want it to go in a city. Specifically in London on top of a high up building over-looking the river. This therefore would mean that it was exposed to high volumes of wind and would be more eye catching. 

Authors own

Firstly the stair case is designed to run around the outside in order to save space. However of course at this height and being where I would want it to be it would of course be enclosed and protected from the outside environment. Therefore glass cladding would surround it. Furthermore it would be a luxurious one bedroom home suitable for either a single person or a couple.

Authors own

On the second floor you can see how there would be a living room facing in a slightly different direction in order to gain from the panoramic views. Moreover all toilets would be kept in the middle of the building in order to create privacy. 

If I were to do this project again I would have considered more the amount of space which wind turbines would consume. Of course I realised this however did not incorporate these difficulties into the build as I thought it may over complicate things which would be beyond my skill set.