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Architects: Design Buro Architects
- Area: 746 m²
- Year: 2014
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Photographs: Aman Sonel
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Manufacturers: Saint-Gobain, Domal, TORFENSTER
Text description provided by the architects. From making huts of two fold paper in childhood to buildings in the public realm, architecture has been always been all around us in one form or another. The Apex is an approach to residential architecture from basics to the modern. The triangular form with the conventional notion of a home in the country has been converted into an elegant structure that houses the living spaces within.
The residence is spread on a single floor with just the basic functional spaces for a nuclear family with an approach to keep them connected with just a minimal corridor. The plan spreads from an open plan living cum dining area opening to the swimming pool on one side and to a corridor on the opposite that connects to the bedrooms on one end and spaces for guests on the other.
The house has been designed around the basic passive principles of climate control. The maximum heat gain occurs via the roof; hence the slabs are protected from direct sunlight via an air ventilated cavity formed with a layer of cement sheet board covered with Shingles supported on a steel frame. The cavity helps achieve a significant drop in the temperature between the inside and the outside.
The ventilation system is in accordance to the large volumes inside the rooms. The exhaust fan below the ridge of the structure proves out to be a great solution as per the stack effect, providing an escape to the hot air that rises up initiating a fresh air flow inside through the windows below.
The concerned factor of security and clear vision at the same time has been solved with dividing the windows in two types. Firstly, the double layered toughened glass sliding windows for clear visions making the exterior landscape a part the interior and secondly, the louvers with mosquito nets, enabling user to control the flow of fresh air by adjusting the louvers. They also ensure safety at the same time.
Presence of the swimming pool on the south west side, moisturizes the prevailing winds; the large openings on the south in the living area and narrow openings on the north in the corridor, creates an airy cross ventilation system in accordance to the funnel effect and keeps the large living and dining space cool and ventilated all round the day.
