Talking of future home we mostly relate of wanting homes that are simple, safer, smarter homes and functional.
As urbanisation is increasing at a faster rate, the demand of more houses with different wants and needs is emerging but what is depleting is connecting with people, a good life, healthy fresh food which has affected being socially, health and life span of human kind.
Sharing
· use, occupy, or enjoy jointly with another or others.
· give a portion of (something) to another or others.
· possess (a view or quality) in common with others.
Bounds
· a territorial limit; a boundary.
Referred to as backyard commons, yes the urban commons!
These are backyard space or underutilised urban backlands. We believe that such an approach presents the best opportunity to add usable green space to urban fabric. How? By converting these un-utilised spaces into functional and beautiful shared green spaces that are owned, managed, and enjoyed by the people who lives around them. This can lead to an increased interaction with neighbours, which may result in a stronger overall sense of community, and safe places where children can play and adults relax.
Urban environments are often significantly warmer than outlying suburbs, mostly due to the prevalence of heat retentive concrete surfaces. Such design interventions, can significantly improve the ecological functioning of urban habitats. Vegetation and permeable pavement can slow storm water runoff and increase groundwater. Trees and vegetation can mitigate the increasing heat effect. The taking down of traditional backyards fences transforms fragmented habitats to connected corridors for urban wildlife. Furthermore because city dwellers recognize value in green space, often simply from an aesthetic standpoint, and this may be reflected through increased property values.
An Urban slub
Our design centres to these thoughts of ‘Sharing Bounds’, which draws upon from local traditional villages. The neighbourhood is spreads over 14850 Sqm housing 76 units, which has been designed to achieve the following key criteria to attract range of lifestyles:
· Offers value, future potential, flexibility and inclusive living.
· Offers LIVE - WORK - SOW - WEAL, enabling room for growth as a family and/or business.
· Offers modular and customisable product range.
· Has a strong sense of community whilst still offering individual expression.
· It’s healthy to live within, and has a minimal impact on the environment.
Every home benefits from both workspace and a residential entrance at ground level. These are oriented to create an alternating arrangement of mews streets and shared gardens. Work-life is encouraged to spill out on front side, family life the other. Rather than monotonous terraces, we create a patchwork of townhouse-style typologies. Each house is individually identifiable yet part of a collective composition, stitched together by the ever-changing backdrop of vegetations and small kitchen farms.
A meandering ‘high-street’ bisects the site. The terraces on either side to create pockets of backyard kitchen gardens, and generous public spaces and intimate social spaces on the spine. The dwellings are offset in relation to one another affording every house a view through the site to the stunning landscape beyond. This balance of spaces allows life to flourish at family, street and community level. There are opportunities created in the landscape in the form of shared gardens and allotments to encourage collaboration between residents. By distributing workspace across the locale, opportunities are created for chance encounters, re-creating the dynamism of life in the city. The balance between work and family, community and privacy is designed to help create a happy and healthy environment.
By promoting work within the cluster, we hope to reduce car dependency and contain vehicles to the perimeter of the site. Electric vehicles and bicycles aims to reduce carbon footprint. The network of streets, squares and gardens are stitched into the fabric, making connections, routes and spaces that are accessible for use by all.
Such four clusters of different typology, which are roughly a quarter hectare, with central common facilities of roughly 3000 Sqm shared between these clusters, provides community spaces, kids play area, yoga-fitness centre, co-working space, cafe, library, mini market, event space and hydroponics farming.
From House to Home
Within this scenario, living arrangements will not conform to established types; there are too many variables. Rather than constrain to established models, we have sought to create a simple framework which can accommodate many complex scenarios.
Every terrace follows the same modular grid and every dwelling consists of two bays - Servant and Served spaces. Whilst the services are put in an order along the party wall, living or served space are all open and flexible, yes, but not by losing the qualities of a house. To retain a connection to the exterior, every home is designed around a, private front yard and semi-private and community gardens at the back. This occupies a full bay, overlooking both the street and the garden. This allows for narrower, more dynamic streets without sacrificing privacy or daylight.
In its most elementary form, bedrooms and bathroom are place on first while room for expansion on attic level: efficient but without sacrificing good quality space standards. This allows for an appropriate mix, whilst supporting a simple, affordable, evolution every time life necessitates. The principle is to create generous additional rooms, on a long-life loose-fit basis, that can accommodate standard scenarios, such as family expansion, or any other use the occupant can dream up. The ground floor space is equally flexible, comprising simple LIV - COOK - EAT - WORK, an open-plan spaces that can be sub-divided or inter-connected to suit the scale required.
Room to innovate
The interior spaces are designed for young entrepreneurs - Photographer’s gallery, a Graphic design studio or even for house women’s who are running a pottery sessions or even vegan kitchen, or just simply a home. A central spine of functional spaces is surrounded by a generous double height space that is open plan for maximum flexibility. Small un-costly adjustments to everyday building elements will transform the interior to suit your evolving lifestyle. Less live/work space. More lifelong space.
New modular kitchen and staircase module can be prefabricated to enhance quality, and reduce onsite assembly time and installation costs. Prefabricated services are easier and more cost effective maintenance and replacement. A dedicated laundry area for washing machine, in utility space with potential to be enclosed to reduce noise in living areas. Roof space provides generous ceiling height or can be adapted to build extra room for kid or even storage space.
Accessibility
Wide doorways, level access and more space for storages, coats, bi-cycle stand and waste management, this reflect the integral role of the outdoors in daily life. Outside, pathways and landscaping create seamless connections to local roads and small green patches with trees providing natural shelter from the elements. Integral design features mean the entrance level area can be used as a temporary living space for someone with reduced mobility, a sick child, pregnant mother or visiting grandparent.
Innovative yet Practical
Through the clever application of modern building methods, these proposals are innovative but equally practical. The strategic approach is to create a robust, yet flexible and cost-effective lower level upon which the off-site pre-fabricated bedroom structure can be planted. This would be framed by the use mass timber, such as Glulam or CLT, to allow for a genuinely flexible arrangement of spaces without interference. This flexibility allows several options to be explored and tested for cost and suitability. Components are manufactured off-site in factory conditions, driven by the BIM model produced. This allows for a sufficient range of variations to create the opportunity for customisation, whilst realising the cost and programme benefits of repetition. The off-site approach can even be extended to kitchens and staircase module. Regardless of structural system, a cladding will be applied for either structural or aesthetic purposes. Whilst we propose to develop the final material palette with local residents and prospective occupiers, it is likely this will draw upon hard-wearing array of contextual materials such as corrugated cement board, sheet metal or even Richlite panels formed from resin infused, recycled paper. The extensions to the residential units are deliberately designed to be simple to create.
A modular design means it can be repeated in different locations, suburbs or town, easily and cost-effectively. And because flexibility is central to the concept, each new development can be adapted to reflect its location. For example, with exterior cladding made from materials specific to its context – without changing the flexibility of the internal layout or structure.
Eco-thrifty
Sustainability, in all forms, is inherent to the approach taken within our proposal. Through an understanding of the local context, key sustainability issues have been established which can be addressed through the design. As a result we can ensure that the proposals deliver a scheme which benefits investors, occupiers and the community. We share the aspiration for a zero-carbon development and do not underestimate the challenges in achieving this. It comprises numerous disciplines and successful implementation relies on a motivated and coherent strategy from all stakeholders, with substantial thought from project conception.
A fabric-first approach will is applied in order to minimise energy demands and create a comfortable environment for residents. Low energy principles adopted in the materials, construction, ongoing maintenance, and the deconstruction are been considered. Both timber and CLT pre-fabricated construction have good sustainable credentials and are readily available. Off-site fabrication helps minimise waste, which can often be re-used in the case of CLT. Embedding circular economy principles in the design rationale has also been prioritised, through developing flexible and adaptable spaces with modularity allowing simple construction, adaption and deconstruction for the buildings.
Urban agriculture helps consumers reduce their “Foodprint” by providing them the opportunity to purchase food that was grown within their community. By localizing produce, urban farms can cut down on the significant amount of fossil fuel consumption necessary to transport and landfills from packages and sell food. The vertical Aquaponic systems of produce 3-4 times as much produces as traditional farming methods and use significantly less water.
Sense of Nature
Gardens create more than healthy, delicious food. Urban agriculture brings people together with a common interest food. The overall health of a community is benefited by increasing its capacity to create an environment that truly sustains its residents.
A closer connection to nature and its effect on health and well-being, as nature is so abundant for leisure in the surrounding area, the landscape flourished on the site is designed in a functional manner to work every bit as hard as the architecture. The strategy is to adopt a nature-based design to bring the flora-fauna, which are so sparse in the urban surrounding onto the doorsteps of residents in a manner which is mutually beneficial. Structure will be created through the provision of a diverse range of planting typologies, mirroring the patchwork of habitats found throughout the local area. In the same way, this structure will provide myriad functions for the community. Whilst stands of trees will offer nesting opportunities for birds and rain gardens and swales will provide value for amphibians whilst helping to reduce surface flood risk. Open areas will be fringed with diverse wildflowers, providing a nectar source for bees, whilst acting as recreational space. These moves bring wildlife into the centre of the community, rather than it’s remaining on the periphery, allowing residents to forge a deep and genuine connection to nature every day.
Greenery adds aesthetic appeal, reduces runoff from precipitation, provides restful spaces for the community, and counters the heat island effect by fixing carbon through photosynthesis.
