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Social Housing
The project starts from a series of technical, economic and architectural considerations determined by the choice of using wood as a good material for the construction of prefabricated housing units.
Will be it a right choice?
Thanks to the use of wood architecture for the first time could provide answers to questions more important than form or style, giving solutions to major issues such as environmental protection, sustainability and energy saving.
Wood is excellent not only for structural issues but it can compete with the traditional construction techniques also for cost and time, as it may be employed in the processes of prefabrication with an efficiency higher than that of steel and concrete.
Wood is the best ecological material because it's a natural resource, immediately available in large quantities and highly renewable thanks to the numerous hood of fast growing timber placed all over the world.
It’s ecological throughout its period of life, by the growth, during which absorbs CO2, and for all the course of its use as it has natural thermal properties that meet some of the needs of modern house insulation.
Finally wood is a perfect material for architecture for its sensory characteristics as it has a wide range of colors, a smooth surface that feels comfortable, a natural fragrance throughout the life-cycle and excellent sound-absorbing capacity.
The project is based on the limitations resulting from the maximum size that the prefab housing should not exceed to guarantee portability, specifically the size of a container by 2.5 x 3 x 12 meters which is the maximum size allowed for vehicles to not pass into the category exceptional transportation.
These limits, which initially seemed to restrict the possibilities of composition, have lead us to investigate those projects where the rigid geometry and repetition of an architectural rhythm were used as qualities that characterize the building.
Soon we realized that the residence for elderly people in Alcacer do Sal designed by architects Francisco and Manuel Aires Mateus was a perfect example of the building to which we should look at as a reference.
The residence unfolds as a broken line in the landscape by following the slight irregularities in the terrain. The internal environments scans the facade of the building proposing a succession of solids and voids that give a harmonic rhythm and at the same time allows light to penetrate, creating openings and private terraces.
The project involves the construction of residences economic consist of individual blocks prefabricated in CLT which are connected the yard in two configurations to get apartments from 57 or 72 m².
The key is the use of wood, which is repeated on the outside with a trim panels and strips that unify the complex with a range of natural colors. The apartments consist of four or five blocks depending on the configuration and the number of people who are going to live there.
The environment has been used as a design tool to control the impact energy of the building.
The buildings are oriented to the south, where the facade is characterized by a system of openings and obscurations designed to allow the irradiation in the winter months and a shield during the summer ones.
Together exposure also the vegetation was placed in order to create a natural brise-soleil, with tall trees willing to South to shield the sun in the summer when the foliage is rich and allow to filter the rays in the winter when the branches are uncovered.
