Conversing Courts: Alternative layout design in Standard Housing

Avneesh Tiwari; Neha Rane; Shanmati Rajagopalan

Court, Noun - an open space enclosed wholly or partly by buildings or circumscribed by a single building.

Design Derivation: Playful integration of courts encourage interaction ‘amongst users’ and ‘between user and the nature (ground and sky)’: Left: (a) Stack-prototype-1 with double height-ed sun-room recessed inside enjoyed by 3 spaces, bedroom study, and living room; (b) Stack-prototype-2 has living spaces extending to double height-ed sunroom projecting out. (Derived from same Stack- prototype-1); and (c) Stacking of both the prototypes complementing each other with double height-ed sunrooms. © atArchitecture

‘Conversing courts’ enhance the community living by encouraging interaction ‘amongst users across the facade’ and ‘between user and the nature (ground and sky)’ through the interface of sun-rooms.

Isometric View of Apartments - Medium: Left-Top: Sample diagram for space exposure to the Sun Room and Window Left-Bottom: 25-Gallery Building PO/PI; Center-Top: 45-Gallery Building PO, Center-Bottom: 45-Gallery Building PI; Right-Top: 65-Gallery Building PO, Right-Bottom: 65-Gallery Building PI © atArchitecture

Isometric View of Apartments - Medium: Left-Top: 85-Gallery/Tower Building PO, Left-Bottom: 85-Section/Tower Building PI; Right-Top: 105-Tower Building - Upper Floor; Right-Bottom: 105-Tower Building - Lower Floor © atArchitecture

Design Stratergies © atArchitecture

Winner: Open international competition for alternative layout design in standard housing, Russian Ministry of Construction Industry, Housing and Utilities Sector + DOM.FR

Download Conversing Courts, competition entry, in PDF Format

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Gallery building - medium size apartments; 3rd Floor Plan; and Elevations 5 & 6 © atArchitecture

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Gallery building- Large size apartments, 6th & 8th Floor Plans; and Elevations 11 & 12 © atArchitecture

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Section building - medium size apartments, Ground, 1st & 2nd Floor Plans; and Elevations 1 & 2 © atArchitecture

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Section building - Large size apartments, 3rd Floor Plan and Elevation 7 © atArchitecture

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Tower - medium size apartments, Ground, 1st and 2nd Floor Plans and Elevation 3 © atArchitecture

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Tower - Large-Size Apartments, elevations 9 & 10

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Romantic Elevation: Composition of solid and void, in the form of double volume courts break the monotony of the conventional stacking of apartments. The double height-ed elements reduce the visual scale of the building and promote interaction. Larger facades have developed a ‘texture’ by this playful integration of depression and projections of the sun-rooms. The curved shadows make the texture dynamic with the movement of the sun. Regardless of the type or size of apartments a common elevation language is followed in all the buildings by appropriating the composition of courts for each prototype.

Classic Plan: With the effective integration of circulation layout, there is no dedicated corridor inside any of the apartments achieving maximum space efficiency. The kitchen and dining extend into the living room, as a single space. This ensures the flexibility in layout and allows window exposure to every interior space. The apartment layouts allow the loop circulation for a smaller family connecting bedroom with living room at both the ends, making the movement more convenient. To ensure the double-height volumes to each court, two stacking-prototype alternatives of each apartment is developed, complementing each other.

Rational Section: Single volume living spaces extend to semi-open courts with double height-ed volumes. Floor to ceiling high windows allow a deeper reach of sunlight in the apartment. The volume of ground floor carrying the collective facilities in each building is made 4.5m high. The entry to all the buildings are triple height-ed, making the interface more welcoming.