House
La Invernada
By
Wen Zhang
March,
19, 2016
Student No.:
991426430
Course: AutoCAD
Program:
Architecture
Executive
Summary
Single family house is a
very popular house type in Canada. In this research, this author has
investigated a single family house in the aspects of its construction systems,
materials, sustainability and circulation, as well as exterior and interior
area layouts. By conducting a series of research and calculation, this author
found that the investigated house is well designed and its architect had made
thoughtful considerations in all aspects. While, based on this research, this
author found that all decisions made in building the house should all base on
the regional climate and site environment. By keeping this concept in mind, the
house can only be built more comfortable, economic and sustainable.
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction
House La Invernada is a
single family house, which is designed by Magia Liquid, and located in a thick
oak forest in the east of Curicó, Maule Region, Chile (Anon, 2012). The house
is generally constructed into two cuboids, intersected on one side, used pine
wood as material and built with big glass windows. The entire house is occupied
120m2, having two stories and separated into access, common areas
and bedrooms (Anon, 2012).
This author had browsed many
houses on the web in selecting the house for this project, but is attracted by
this one for its beauty in shape and fitness to the surrounding environment. From
the house design in the picture below, this author believes the aim of this
architect is not simply to build a modern home, but more concentrated in
constructing a place as less impacting on the environment as possible. Therefore,
this author believes this house is worthwhile to have a thorough studying and
it will not only help to gain more ideas and practical knowledge in design and
construction, but also more considerations before the design process.
(Anon, 2012)
2.0 Sustainability in Architecture
Sustainability is a word firstly comes from
biological system, which means to endure and remain diverse and productive, but
in 21st century, it has gone far beyond of this simple definition,
which refers to develop something good for people as well as for nature (What
is Sustainability). And bearing this in mind, modern architects aim to design,
construct, operate, maintain, renovate and demolish a building in an
environmental and resource-efficient way (Green Building). As sustainability is
so important, being as an architectural technologist, it’s necessary to look
what the advantages lying behind it.
The effective use of natural resources will help us
consume less energy and resources in depletion. It’s not only a concern for the
future of our planet, but also can benefit us in present days. For architecture
companies, designing a house consuming less energy and material in construction
will promote the income of the company. While for consumers, it may indicate
that they will save more money in future operation of the house. Especially in
today that people increasingly care about their health. The green house also
means constructor uses natural or quality chemical building materials and
components in the house and residents will be influenced less by the harmful
effects. In fact, sustainable building can be seen as a win-win solution to
both human and nature.
3.0 Construction Systems and Materials
This house is
generally made of pine wood, glass and steel.
Firstly, the type of roof was designed to be a slope,
which looks modern and suitable for the cubic structure of the house. In this
author’s opinion, this design could also be very practical for cleaning the
roof as the house is located in the forest that there must be many leaves
falling in autumn. Secondly, in the aspect of selecting joists, since the house
is located in Chili and the weather is relatively mild, in fact, it doesn’t
require heavy wood joists in supporting the roof to carry heavy snow load. As a
matter of fact, the selection of roof joist of this house could be 1.0 to 2.0
kPa. Thirdly, as the house is designed to be separated into one story and two
stories, so there could be a difference in selecting the beams. For the
one-story section, the maximum span can be wider, which is in contrast to the
two-story section. Fourthly, the foundation of the house is designed to use
wood piles. In this way, it can keep the floor dry as well as prevent small
animals, insects or worms nesting below the floor. In addition, from the
picture of this house, big and small windows are used almost everywhere between
wood studs, and some are even replaced the wood wall. This is to bring more
light into the rooms, especially in such a location where forest is in dense.
Moreover, steels are used as armrest on the terrace, which provide protection
to the occupants.
4.0 Sustainable Technologies
As this house stands
alone in the forest, so it must have incorporated rainwater harvesting,
greywater reuse and on-site sewage treatment systems (Jone, 2015). The
rainwater harvesting system can be designed under the roof to collect rainwater
and store in an underground tank for bathing, washing and gardening (Rainwater
Harvesting Systems). And according to the statistics, it can reduce 50% of
domestic water usage (Rainwater Harvesting Systems). Greywater usually comes
from bath and shower (Williams, 2013). It can also be recycled in an underground tank
and be used to flush the toilet and water the garden (Williams, 2013). It directly saves water from rivers, reduces
chemical pollution, as well as increases plant growth (William, 2013). An
on-site sewage treatment system consists of building sewer, septic tank, drain
field and soil (Planning - On-site Wastewater Treatment Systems). Its process
is to direct waste water from the building sewer to the septic tank, where the
liquid can be separated from the solids and enter into the drain field
(Planning - On-site Wastewater Treatment Systems). Then, an absorption system
can disperse the effluent into the soil, where microorganisms provide further
treatment removing constituents like nitrates, phosphates, bacteria and viruses
(Planning - On-site Wastewater Treatment Systems). And the entire system is put
underground and doesn’t influence the landscape. It also plays an important
role in saving water.
5.0 Circulation
The picture below is the
ground floor and second floor plan, which presents the circulation and the
connections of the house. The ground floor is generally separated into three
parts. The very left part is an inside playground, where a telescope is put in
there. The room on the right of it includes kitchen, dining and living area.
Though this space is small, it can be enlarged as it’s connected to the
terrace. As long as the family opens the glass sliding door/window, they can
come out to eat and chat. In addition, the terrace is also used like the main
door with an access ramp on the northeast side of the house accessing to the
outside. The right side of the ground floor contains two bedrooms, a 3-pc and a
2-pc washroom. The stairs in the middle can access to the second floor, which
contains a 2-pc washroom, a bedroom and a small terrace. And based on this circulation,
the zoning of the house is very clear. The left part of the house is generally
public and noisy, while the right part is private and quite. It enables
occupants in different sides of the house less likely disturb each other.
6.0 Conclusion
After studied
the selected house, this author learnt that designing a house is not a free
drawing, but requires plenty of consideration to plan it in an all-around way.
Firstly, climate may impact on the selection of
construction material. For this house, the span of the maximum joist can be
wide is result in the local warm winter. With around 15 degree in winter
season, it doesn’t need to consider the snow load. In fact, climate is a key in
the design.
In addition, it’s equally important to consider the
surrounding environment. For this house, due to it’s located in a forest, in
fact, it’s essential to consider how to bring more light into the house and
keep the house dry. And these are the reasons why this architect used big
windows and used piers as the foundation. And as the house is located isolated,
therefore, it’s quite necessary to select a set of water recycle system.
Thirdly, the layout of the house is rational. The
bedrooms are all designed on the right side of the house, which can keep the
sleeping occupants as much as possible from noise from the left side of the
house.
All in all,
when it’s my time to design a house, the process is to firstly analyze the
climate of the region and surrounding environment of the house so that
construction and technologies can be selected. And then is to create a layout
according to the client’s preferences.
Appendix A The Drawings
Appendix B Area Computation, Construction
Cost Spreadsheet and Analysis
Gross
area means to measure the total area within a building envelop, including the
external walls (Gross Floor Area). And the charts above present the ground
floor and second floor gross area of the House La Invernada. They have shown
the names of each room and areas including external walls. The unit cost per
square meter is estimated based on the average cost of room in Ontario market,
which includes the costs of the construction of walls, floors, windows, doors,
as well as basic living facilities of oven, sink, bathtub, shower and water
closet. And by multiplying the area of each room with per square cost, the cost
of each room can be calculated. And the total area of ground floor gross area is
98.2m2, costing 70,430.00CAD, and the total area of second floor
gross area is 31m2, costing 23,590.00CAD. And these two charts indicate
the general expenditure of constructing this two-storey house. However, the
costs of sustainable technologies are not included, which the costs may vary
much due to the customers’ preference in using the new technologies.
Similar to the gross area charts, The Ground Floor and
Second Floor Net Area chart show the rooms’ names, areas, unit cost per square
and the cost of each room including basic facilities and the costs. But the key
information that a net floor area chart can present is the actually usable area
within a house, excluding the external and internal wall thicknesses
(Delferier, 2013). It helps the designer learn how many areas that the
occupants can move within the house, and determine whether the house is
properly designed with the maximum usable spaces.
Based on the above charts, by summing up the net
area of each room, the total net area of the two floors can be calculated. In
fact, the total net area for the ground floor is 80.2m2, and the
total net area for the second floor is 26.1m2, and the total net
area for the house is 106.3m2. This number indicates the area that
occupants can move in the house is 106.3m2.
Firstly, by
using the total gross area minus total net area, the area used for walls and
partitions can be calculated, which is 22.9m2. Secondly, by using
the total net area divides the total gross area, the percentage of usable space
can be learnt, which is 82.28%. Besides, the total construction costs can also
be identified by adding up the total room costs in gross area. Last but not
least, the average cost per square meter of construction can also be calculated
by using the total room costs in gross area to divide the total gross area, which
is $727.71.
Based on the above numbers, it can help a
contractor understand whether the design has an appropriate layout and whether
the cost of construction is acceptable. While, for the House La Invernanda, the
house is well-designed. And the only thing that the contractor needs to think
is to reduce the costs.
Notes:
The above statistical calculations are
based on the data below:
Standard living requires a minimum of 50
lcd (litres-per-capita-per day), preferably 60-80 Icd (Factsheet: Water Use
& Consumption in Canada).
Potential rainwater catchment: 1m2
of catchment area X 1mm of rain will produce 1 litre of water (Stanhope, 2012).
The annual rainfall in Ontario is 786.9mm (Rainfall/ Precipitation in Toronto,
Ontario, Canada).
Actual rainwater catchment=potential
rainwater collection multiplied by the collection efficiency (Stanhope,
2012).In this equaltion, this author sets the efficiency as 80%.
Appendix C Information Sources
Anon (2012) House La Invernada Retrieved from: http://www.archdaily.com/253084/house-la-invernada-magialiquid?ad_medium=widget&ad_name=category-houses-article-show
Delferier, Coralie (2013) The difference between gross or net area Retrieved from: http://realcorp.lu/2013/11/difference-gross-net-area/
Factsheet: Water Use & Consumption in Canada (n.d.) Retrieved from: http://watergovernance.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/FS_Water_Use.pdf
Jone, Jona (2015) 7 Green Building Trends to Watch
in 2015 Retrieved from: http://www.triplepundit.com/2015/04/7-green-building-trends-watch-2015/
Planning - On-site Wastewater Treatment Systems
(n.d.) Retrieved from: http://www.pennco.org/wastewater
Rainwater Harvesting Systems (n.d.) Retrieved from: http://www.durkenergy.co.uk/rainwater-harvesting.html
Rainfall/ Precipitation in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
(n.d.) Retrieved from: http://www.toronto.climatemps.com/precipitation.php
Stanhope, Joe (2012) Rainwater Harvesting Best
Practices Guidebook Retrieved from:
http://www.rdn.bc.ca/cms/wpattachments/wpID2430atID5059.pdf
What is Sustainability? (n.d.) Retrieved from; http://www.sustainabilitydegrees.com/what-is-sustainability/
Williams, Hannah (2013) What is Grey
Water Recycling? Retrieved from: http://thegreenhome.co.uk/heating-renewables/rainwater-harvesting/what-is-grey-water-recycling/
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