PLACES TO LIVE II

HOUSES OF THE FUTURE1

Notes compiled by: P.S. Chani2

Key words: energy efficiency, sustainability, prefabrication, innovative materials, quick to

construct, easy to dismantle, recycling, affordability

Within 15 years, homebuilders may be living in prefabricated houses made almost entirely
from steel, timber, clay, glass, concrete or even cardboard, according to New South Wales
Government Architect Chris Johnson

An exhibition at the Sydney Opera House - a feature of the City of Sydneys Art and About
Festival, and celebrates the Year of the Built Environment 2004
Exhibition showcased six futuristic houses highlighting modern concepts of houses which are:

1. Efficient
2. High-quality
3. Environmentally sustainable
4. Affordable
5. Easily constructed
Land shortage means we need to rethink houses, and the environmental agenda is getting
stronger, - Chris Johnson

Houses made out of steel, timber, concrete, clay, glass and cardboard

Each house designed by a team of architects who had a brief to produce prefabricated
houses that could be erected on-site in less than four days, were futuristic in appearance and
compliant with NSW BASIX and Victorias 5 star ratings standards

Demand is growing for such innovation in housing concepts

STEEL HOUSE

Introduction

Designed by Sarah Bickford and Paul Lucas of Modabode

and sponsored by Integrated Steel Solutions
1
by Lachlan Gilbert
2
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Architecture and Planning, IIT Roorkee
 Uses a simple, light-filled interior that showcases all things steel

Uses photovoltaic cells for electricity and a warterhog tank to collect water for recycling

Design

Conceived as a pre-fabricated, modernist, compact dwelling that is both environmentally

responsible and utilitarian

Available as an off the shelf, affordable product

A simple steel-framed modular unit, protected from the elements by a striking over-sailing roof

Roof is eye-catching but dynamic and practical; designed to shade the living spaces and the
veranda from the sun, reflect radiant heat, support photovoltaic panels and maximise the
collection of rainwater

Encircled by a steel veranda; appears to float above the ground, expressing its minimal
environmental impact by touching the earth very lightly (Works of Mies, Bradley, Murcutt and
Shigeru Ban refer slides)

A single module could be a holiday retreat, a guest studio, a garden office or and extension for
elderly relatives.

Can also combine two or more modules to form a large family home.

Internal layout can easily be configured to suit individual circumstances.

Possible to start with a single unit and add a second or third module as a family grows

Design can be positioned to make the most of any site

Orientation, the views of the surroundings, local wind patterns and approach from the street
are all considered when locating the modules on a site.

Inherent flexibility of the modular system allows views and sun to be controlled (for eg. use a
glazed panel to create a sunny dining area, and solid panel to hide a neighbours gable wall)

Because the house is fully prefabricated, disruption to the site is minimal the only site works
required are simple screw-pile foundations and utility connections

Solar panels and grey water treatment have been incorporated.

 The house can be easily removed, leaving practically no trace of its existence in the
landscape

Simple light-filled interior of the house is a showcase for all things steel.

Furniture, lighting, textiles and other products by young Australian designers to be displayed,
demonstrating playful and unexpected uses for steel in a domestic context

Construction

Basic module 50 sq metres

Transported to site as a fully pre-fabricated unit complete with kitchen and bathroom.

The interior is entirely pre-finished prior to transportation

Roof, veranda decks and accommodation module arrive on a single flat bed-truck

Once on site these pieces are assembled together and bolted into place on the pre-drilled
screw-pile footings

The house is also available in a double-size module, totalling 100 sq metres plus outdoor
decks

Why steel?

Demonstrates the use of lightweight steel components to create a robust, transportable

dwelling with a modernist aesthetic
Clad with steel sheet materials that have advanced coatings to resist rust and reduce glare

Many advantages as a structural material; has a very high strength to weight ratio a little
goes a long way in structural terms

Although steel uses considerable energy in its initial manufacture (between 30-40 MJ/kg), it
can be formed into precisely engineered sections to ensure that no material is wasted

Can be easily re-used and re-cycled at the end of a structures life

Steel frame does not warp or rot, it doesnt burn or add fuel to bush fires, and it is impervious
to termite attack
Structural steel framing, while long exploited for the construction of public and commercial
buildings, is finally being used for mass housing in Australia
Environmental Features

The double roof reflects radiant heat during the summer months and generates natural air
currents that passively cool the building
Thermal mass is created using Water H2OGs

In summer the thermal mass cools overnight, keeping the house cooler during the day. In
winter they help retain heat

The H2OGs are also rainwater tanks, collecting water for toilet flushing and the garden
The narrow floor plan allows natural cross ventilation between panels of louvred windows

Thick foil-coated insulation retains winter warmth while reflecting summer heat

Electricity is generated by BP Solar photovoltaic panels, and a solar hot water system could
be installed on the roof to heat water

Smart energy-efficient appliances and AAA-rated water-saving taps prove that an eco-
friendly home can appeal to the most stylish of design conscious consumers.

Why a Steel House for the Future?

The architectural world - steel and glass in the post-war years

Individual houses, intended to showcase the modern aspirations of their wealthy patrons,
caught the publics imagination

The Farnsworth House by Mies van der Rohe

The Case Study Houses in California, designed by Craig Ellwood, Richard Neutra and
Charles Eames - used prefabricated components and developed the aesthetics of the
Farnsworth House to create a new architecture for the age

One of the leaders in the use of steel in housing is Glenn Murcutt, the only Australian
architect to win the worlds most prestigious Pritzker Prize for Architecture in 2002

(In the United Kingdom in the mid 1990s the Government commissioned an inquiry into the
construction industry. The Egan Report led to new sustainable standards that forced public
and private developers to innovate. The report set targets for the reduction of construction
periods, costs, waste and injuries. It was sugessted that introducing extensive off-site
prefabrication would help achieve these goals. There has since been a renaissance in pre-
 fabrication with developments such as Murray Grove, Raines Dairy, Greenwich Millennium
Village and the BedZed zero-energy scheme all using prefabrication building systems)

Availability

Designed to be manufactured in a factory to a very high quality and to order at a fixed price

It is available as a single or double unit. The market is undoubtedly eager for an off-the-shelf
sustainable dwelling that embraces modernist ideals. Contact http://www.modabode.com.au/ for
details.

CONCRETE HOUSE

Introduction

The New South Wales Government Architects (GAO) also got involved in the project, with GAO
architects Peter Poulet and Michael Harvey
designing a concrete house.

This team exploited the advantages of concretes

properties:
Its inherent thermal mass
Its ability to be cast into curvilinear forms,
while incorporating it into a series of enclosed spaces which open up to the north for sunlight
exposure

Design

Design utilises readily-available components to create a solid mass of curvilinear concrete

shells on the south side of the house and curtain-like enclosures to the north side that open
up for ventilation and light
House interfaces with the surrounding landscape

A green roof further improves thermal performance.

Relationship between inside and outside is ambiguous

Curtain-like screens can be opened up for summer outdoor living, or closed to create a
feeling of warmth and enclosure that only the thick massing of concrete can provide.
 Concrete shell structure empowers occupants to personalise their dwelling, as it is robust
enough to undergo many changes.

Curved walls inspire creativity (For eg, you could paint the curved walls to any colour or
pattern, both inside and outside. Or you could line the interiors with silk, leather, stone or
timber to give a warm, inviting interior or leave the walls bare for a minimalist look)

In this open-plan, free-flowing design, the relationship between built elements and the
surrounding landscape is explored and how people might live in the future is a key question
being contemplated

Challenges us to consider the use of pre-existing concrete components as an innovative and

environmentally appropriate material

Design highlights peoples relationships with the landscape, the natural environment and the
weather

Living in this house would be a commitment to living sustainably, using renewable energy,
harvesting rainwater and minimising waste

Construction

Precast the roof and floor panels; precast pipes

A lifting crane on site as the house will weigh 92 tons

Floor panels sit on beams bolted to screw piles or are placed directly on a firm base

The precast pipes are then craned into preset positions and the roof panels are placed on
top

Gravity keeps the building together

All this takes less than a day to assemble

The landscaped roof garden, folding doors, skylights, photovoltaic cells, plumbing, power
connections and furniture are then installed on site

Environmental Features

Concretes inherent thermal mass is used to keep the house cool in summer and warm in
winter
 A garden on the roof further enhances thermal massing, and its subsurface wetland cell is
used to recycle greywater for toilet flushing and irrigation, dramatically reducing potable
(drinkable) water use

Rain water storage is integrated into the design using the precast concrete columns - almost
any volume of water could be stored using this simple method

AAA rated water fixtures and a waterless composting toilet further reduce water use

Appropriate levels of sun shading and solar penetration are provided by opening up the
house to a northerly orientation

Cross flow ventilation the whole house can be opened up to take advantage of cool
breezes and outdoor living

A solar hot water system and photovoltaic cells for power generation can be installed on the
roof

Concrete has a very long shelf- life. (eg. The Pantheon in Rome, which is made of concrete,
is nearly 1,900 years old)

Lifecycle assessments of concrete show that it is an environmentally sustainable, durable

and robust material

Why a Concrete House for the Future?

Concretes inherent thermal mass and its ability to be cast into curvilinear forms is incorporated
to provide appropriate comfort conditions and a series of enclosed spaces in the house

By using readily available and transportable components this house is affordable, quick to
construct
Doesnt rely on highly specialised skilled labour. Concrete is a robust and durable material
requiring very little maintenance

Use of pre-made cylindrical components in the Concrete House is a direct reference to

Japanese architect Shigeru Ban and his architecture of cardboard cylinders (only this house
uses concrete cylinders instead). Shigeru Ban also designed a Curtain Wall house in Tokyo
 1995. The house has an outer skin of just two elements: transparent glass panels and white
fabric curtains. When the curtains are retracted, the house appears almost naked in the
middle of Tokyo

Another prominent Japanese architect, Tadao Ando, has revolutionised the use of concrete
in architecture. His works such as Church of the Light led to Ando winning the prestigious
Pritzker Prize for Architecture in 1995

Other references for the design of the Concrete House range from the modernist pavilions of
Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson to the interplay of inside and outside seen in the work
of Sydney architect Richard Leplastrier as well as much traditional Japanese architecture

All these precedents heighten the connection between people and their environment which
in turn is a direct call to pursue a sustainable way of life

Openness of the planning and the potential to expand and contract the Concrete House
design to suit a variety of social groupings, weather conditions and environments will ensure
that it will be relevant to future generations

Availability

The Concrete House demonstrates the use of precast concrete elements, which are readily
available on the market
This is a repeatable, adaptable design - almost any configuration could be made using these
simple concrete components. And you could add or remove modules at any time.

Future Implications

Houses of the future will be more flexible to allow for a variety of social conjunctions
House plans will be ambiguous enough to allow for people to decide how to use space and
make place

Houses will be environmentally sustainable

Construction will be quick and not require specialised labour

Houses will encourage a positive interaction between people and the natural environment.
TIMBER HOUSE

Introduction

Designed by Stephanie Smith and Ken McBryde of

Innovarchi, with sponsorship by the Timber
Development Association, Australia
 Its focus is on the relationship between single family and the environment

The design blurs the distinction between natural and built environment the surface is
simultaneously roof, wall and floor

Design

Exploration of the single-family dwelling and its relationship to the environment

The architects have conceived of a surface that is metaphorically a piece of landscape

Challenges the relationship between interior and exterior space

Based on the idea of the Mbius Loop (refer Appendix 1) this surface, or skin, is
simultaneously roof, wall and floor

Skin or surface undulates to form internal and external spaces that blur the distinction
between the natural and the built environment

Skin, which is made of a timber-fibre cladding, has several purposes1:

Acts as water catchment, shading mechanism and solar collector

A red streak of solar cells cuts through the surface of the building, generating renewable
energy from the suns energy as it strikes the building

An integrated water management system2 incorporates an internal landscape in the centre

of the building, which is used to recycle captured water

House challenges traditional notions about how timber can be used and what constitutes a
timber product

Introduces advances in materials technology using timber-fibre products

It also serves to demonstrate that:

Pre-fabricated buildings do not have to be uninteresting boxes but can be complex

forms and spaces
Timber is easy to construct, modify and move in large pre-fabricated pieces

1
Refer Future Implications
2
Designed by Penny Allan and Astrid Brokamp of GAO
Construction

Structure pre-cut in Victoria, transported flat-packed to NSW where the pieces were
assembled in a workshop in Gosford
Composite layers of external cladding are fixed in place with screws, 3M tape and Dual-lock
repositionable mounting tape

Hard wood strip timber flooring is laid directly onto the floor framing

Eco-veneer ceiling and wall panels are attached to the underside of the primary structure
using 3M tape

Built-in furniture is also fabricated using e-veneer

Double glazed windows and the Solar Titania photovoltaic panels are fitted on site

The building is divided into three main pieces and transported to site on low-loader trucks.
The pieces are then joined together, with removable cladding to seal each joint

Why Timber?

Sustainable resource, with many species able to be grown in softwood plantations or natural
hardwood forests
Affordable and easily worked by relatively unskilled labour

Material is soft, warm and tactile

Unlike clay or concrete, timber-framed structures have a relatively low thermal capacity

Timber-framed structures can be easily insulated, and will have a fast response to heat or
cooling because you dont need to heat or cool the entire material for it to perform thermally

Environmental Features

The LVL (laminated veneer lumber) structure and plywood panels are renewable plantation
pine
The Australian hardwoods used are from eco-select sustainably managed forests

The external cladding by Aust Panel is a wood-fibre and phenolic resin product

E-veneer is made from wood fibre, rather than peeling logs

 The cardboard foil composite insulation is fully recyclable

Solar Titania cells are an Australian invention, using dye-based nanotechnology to generate
electricity

Solar hot water heating using a unique solar tube is incorporated into the roof design

Sensor taps, greywater toilet and AAAA-rated showerheads conserve water

A wetland cell set into the deck recycles greywater, and a bioretention garden treats rain
water before storage and reuse as hot water

Why a Timber House for the future?

Theory

Innovarchis concept for the Timber House is based on the Mbius Loop
Timber cladding in this house is simultaneously floor, walls and roof

Fully prefabricated timber housing has been thoroughly explored before; however it is only
now, as computer technology infiltrates the building industry, that we can create:

Complex geometries

Intricate cutting patterns

Tight tolerances

Environmentally sustainable features

Despite an incredibly complex geometry, the Timber House can be designed with a large
variety of configurations

In fact, it is due to this complex geometry that such variety of forms is possible

Using computers to generate the cutting patterns, a house could be fabricated in the factory
and trucked out to site in a matter of weeks

You can also choose from a wide assortment of internal and external finishes
 The fixing system for the Timber House allows occupants to change the finishes according
to season. So in winter you could line the house with a warm, intimate colour and texture,
whilst in summer you could change to a cool, tranquil combination

Future Implications
Housing in the future should be:

Quicker to build
More ecologically sensitive

Offer more choice in shape and form without affecting price

Much wider application of computer technology to generate cutting patterns and complex
geometries while taking care of many other parameters like environmental sustainability

Result -excitingly creative houses can be fabricated in a factory and trucked out to site in a
matter of weeks

Can fully integrate many or all of the environmental features shown here

Skin in this example or roofing in others serves multiple purposes; future housing will have
building elements performing functions other than their conventional functions

Innovative use of traditional/conventional materials

Availability

All the technology is available to build a Timber House of the Future in almost any configuration.

CARDBOARD HOUSE

Inroduction
Designed by Stutchbury and Pape Architects, working in
association with the Ian Buchan Fell Housing Research
Unit at University of Sydney

Uses 100 per cent recycled and recyclable materials

cardboard and HDPE plastic
 Extremely low cost, light weight and flexible; seen as a genuine short-term housing option

Design

Represents the reduction of technology and the simplification of needs

Demonstrates that 100% building materials can be recycled at extremely low cost

Material easily transportable in a light commercial vehicle

An example demonstrating reduction in both housing and environmental costs

Places the least demand on resources

Short term accommodation or emergency housing

Conceived as a kit of parts comprising a flat pack of frames, and infill floor and wall panels

Uses minimal fixings: nylon wing nuts, hand-tightened polyster tape stays and Velcro
fastenings are used to assemble the frames and protective skin system

Can be assembled by two people over a six-hour period using appropriate scaffolding

Series of repetitive portal frames are both spaced and stabilised by a standardised secondary
structure

Once assembled, the structure provides a creative architectural frame from which the house
derives its aesthetic

Fixed and moveable furnishings, floor systems, door and opening frames, lighting and other
services all relate to the structure and layout

Roof covering is a lightweight material, transportable

Roof fabric assists in holding down the building, providing diffused light in the day and a
glowing box at night

Water collected in bladders underneath the floor which double as ballast to hold down the
lightweight building

Underfloor water tanks are flexible and made from HDPE plastic, same as in the water proof
roof
 HDPE plastic also used for the novel kitchen and bathroom pods

A composting toilet system produces nutrient-rich water for gardening

Low-voltage lighting can be powered using a 12-volt car battery or small photovoltaic cells
mounted on the roof framing

Why Cardboard?
Cardboard is not a traditional building material, however the introduction of innovative bonding,
cutting and structural techniques has provided the opportunity to consider this lightweight and
recyclable material in a more creative fashion

All the material in the house is recycled, and recyclable, making it an excellent environmentally
sustainable option for housing.

Environmental Features

Uses 85% recycled materials

All materials are 100% recycleable

Recycling the house saves 12 cubic metres of landfill, 39 trees and 30 000 litres of water

Extremely low cost, transportable, and flexible, this is a genuine housing option that could be
used in a variety of temporary applications

Autonomous servicing: uses only 12-volt batteries or small photovoltaic cells for power
generation

Composting system produces nutrient-rich water for gardening

Why a Cardboard House for the Future?

Paper and cardboard have been used to construct domestic housing in Japan for many
centuries, where rice paper (shoji) was both cheap and safe in earthquake prone regions
Folded cardboard (origami) was also used for lightweight enclosures, simulating paper
sculpture

Contemporary Japanese architect Shigeru Ban has used tubular and flat cardboard to great
effect for housing, civic buildings, large exhibition pavilions and emergency shelters
 In Australia, pioneering work was carried out at the University of New South Wales by
Vincent Sedlack, and just last year Adriano Pupilli, an honours student at the University of
Sydney, designed and built a full-size bay of a 5-bedroom house with Col James

The Architects see this project as a genuine housing option

Extremely low cost, transportable, lightweight and flexible, this building could be used in a
variety of widespread applications.

Seen as a prototype that may serve to meet future housing in a way that is responsible and
beautiful.

Such houses point to certain principles that would govern future housing; material(s) used
may be different and houses more elaborate, but this house serves as a principle prototype

Availability

At a purchase price of just $35,000 this is a genuine short-term housing option that could be
used in a variety of applications.

It is lightweight, transportable, requires no more skill to erect than an Ikea product, and is very
affordable

GLASS HOUSE
Introduction
The glass house a collaboration between James Muir and
Carl Masens of the UTS Institute of Nanoscale Technology
and CSIRO

Demonstrates how nano-technology can be incorporated

into glass to create an environmentally responsive, ultra low-
energy design

Design

It will showcase both commercially-available products, and prototypes of recent research into
materials science, to demonstrate the ways in which these products can:
1. Enhance our lifestyle
2. Improve natural lighting, thermal and acoustic performance of buildings
3. Result in lower maintenance costs over the lifetime of buildings
 The basis of the Glass House was to design an environmentally responsive, ultra-low energy
living space incorporating state-of-the-art material technologies.

The Glass House reveals the latest in Nano technology research from around the world.

Why use Nanotechnology?

An emerging area of science that is concerned with the control of matter at the scale of
atoms and molecules

Wide range of Nanotechnologies, with many current and potential applications1

With molecular control of matter we can make smart materials that change their properties in
response to some stimulus from their surroundings - including instructions from people

Some smart materials might even function like microscale factories for the production of
other materials or devices

Some current Nanotechnologies and their applications include:

Smart Materials
Smart materials have almost endless potential they can change in response to their
surroundings in ways that natural (dumb materials) dont. Some materials could have tiny
computers embedded in them which can send signals - like tyres that tell your car when the
tread is wearing unevenly, or paint that alerts your house of a gas leak or an electrical fault.
Really smart materials could change colour on command, or generate electricity during the
day and make it available at night. Imagine coatings that refuse to become dirty, and heal
themselves when damaged!

Nanopowders
Nanopowders are used for clear UV absorbing sunscreens (available on the market now),
paints and coatings of very high hardness and density.

1
You can find out more about Nanotechnology at http://www.nano.uts.edu.au/ ,
www.nano.uts.edu.au/nanohouse.html , http://www.nano.csiro.au/, http://www.v-kool.com/,
http://www.myretsu.com/, http://www.bangitup.com/, http://www.nanotec.com.au/,
http://www.fiberopticlight.com/
 The Glass House will include displays of both physical materials and computer-generated
simulations which explain in simple, tangible terms how nano-engineered coatings and
materials could work in a domestic situation

It will show how these coatings can alter reflection, absorption and transmission of light
through and off surfaces by selective wavelength control of the materials attributes. These
coatings can therefore alter the properties of building materials as we know them.

The Glass House will exhibit both physical materials and computer-generated simulations
which explain in simple, tangible terms how nano-engineered coatings and materials could
work in a domestic situation.
It will show how these coatings can alter reflection, absorption and transmission of light
through and off surfaces by selective wavelength control of the materials attributes. These
coatings can therefore alter the properties of building materials as we know them.

Why choose glass?

To make use of as much daylight, views and indoor/ outdoor flow as possible.

In the past this has created a trade-off, with potentially high costs for heating in winter and
cooling in summer. However, with modern coating technology applied on glass, things have
changed considerably. We can now use high-tech products to alter the environmental
implications of large areas of glass.

The Glass House will demonstrate recent advances in glass technology:

Spectrally-selective qualities
Improved thermal performance
Self cleaning attributes of glass

The Glass House features a number of different glass types. One of these is Pilkington Activ
glass, which has a transparent exterior coating using nanotechnology that uses the forces of
nature - natural ultraviolet light and rain - to keep the glass free from organic dirt. It is laminated
to provide safety, noise reduction and fading control.

The secret of this self-cleaning glass is its special nanotechnology coating, which works in two
stages:

1. Using a photocatalytic process, the coating reacts with ultra-violet rays from natural daylight
to break down and disintegrate organic dirt.

2. The second part of the process happens when rain or water hits the glass. Because it is
hydrophilic, instead of forming droplets the water spreads evenly over the surface, and as it
runs off takes the dirt with it.

Compared with conventional glass, the water dries off very quickly and does not leave unsightly
drying spots.

The coating works continuously, with dirt being washed away whenever it rains, or it can be
lightly hosed down during long dry periods. The coating needs only a small amount of UV
radiation to activate the coating so it works on overcast days.

Construction

Can be brought to site on two trucks carrying 3 sections of 6.4x2.4m panels each weighing
around 5 tons
House is fully prefabricated, and made almost entirely of glass

The roof is 16mm thick toughened glass with a frit, or pattern, etched in the glass to reduce
solar gain

Walls are 16mm single glazingOne side of the house will feature self-cleaning Pilkington
Activ glass, with the remaining walls of Pilkington Solar E Plus and Low E

A glass floor 30mm thick will comprise two layers of 12mm, and a sacrificial 16mm layer on
top

Timber floors in the entry are treated with Nanotechnology coatings to protect them from
fading under ultraviolet light

The steel portal frames might be treated with nanotechonology coatings in the future,
changing their performance as well.

Environmental features
House opens up to the environment and be flooded with natural light. In this past, this has led to
a tradeoff with potentially high costs for heating and cooling. But now this house demonstrates
how recent advances in glass technology can create an environmentally responsive, low-energy
design.
 Environmental Features

Photovoltaic cells mounted on the roof generate electricity. These are angled like louvres to
moderate solar penetration into the building

Pilkington Solar E Plus and Low E glass are low-emissivity, reducing unwanted heat gain in
summer but are warm to touch in winter

The west and east elevations include glass louvres, which create natural airflow to cool the
building

You could also add roller screens with Nanotechnology-embedded fabrics to block further
sunlight.

Why a Glass House in the Future?

Mies van der Rohes Farnsworth House (1945) was a distinctive pavilion that hovered above a
grass lawn. It was made up of just two planes a roof and floor enclosed in glass and
supported by eight steel columns. This transparent box was one of the most radically minimalist
houses ever designed. Four years later US architect Phillip Johnson designed a Glass House in
Connecticut.

Like its predecessors, the Glass House of the Future challenges the materiality of architecture;
and the use of structure, technology and design for housing in the twenty-first century.

Clay house

The showcase also features a house built out of clay. Designed

by Tone Wheeler of Environa Studios, this house shows how
acoustic privacy is achieved by combining high-mass clay
products with a courtyard-style house. It features rare clay
products such as non-standard bricks, a slick brick, terracotta
louvres and Terracade external cladding.
Design concept

The Clay House uses the twin concepts of a courtyard plan and the inherent mass of clay
brick products to create an intimate and private house. The driving concept behind this
design is that it can fit into a small block, and has high level of thermal comfort that doesnt
rely on artificial cooling and heating.

The architectural design is an open plan centred around a solarium, an indoor-outdoor

space that acts as both the living area and courtyard. This space has a multilayered glass
roof with operable louvres to control the level of light. By controlling the level of direct
sunlight, the thermal mass of brickwork can be heated or cooled accordingly.

All the rooms of the house open onto this sky-lit space, which in turn opens onto a
verandah facing the garden. The adjustable roof and folding doors on all sides of the
solarium allow the occupants to adapt this room to varying degrees of openness and
different uses.

The square form of the courtyard can be expanded on two, three or four sides, so that the
exhibition Clay House is only one of many versions that could be built.

Historical or theoretical precedents

There is a long history of brick construction as the most secure form of home, dating back
to Roman times.

Two notable designs in modern history include Mies van der Rohes scheme for a brick
country house in 1924 that emphasised the planar nature of the construction with walls
extending into the landscape. This emphasised the relationship of indoors and outdoors
and the way brick can be used for both.

Joern Utzon, the architect for the Sydney Opera House, designed a number of housing
schemes in Denmark in the 1950s, which were based around a private courtyard that
faced out to the sun and light and opened onto public space.

Environa Studio has taken these two ideas of the solid wall that links indoor and outdoor,
and the use of the well protected courtyard for private living, in the development of this
House of the Future.
The Clay Brick and Paver Association provides an interesting history on the use of brick
throughout the ages, at http://www.claybrick.com.au/story.html

Why choose clay bricks?

Clay bricks and tiles offer four advantages that make them ideal. Firstly, bricks and tiles
are solid and long-lasting. Secondly, they provide an ideal walling material for a courtyard
house as they offer great security at the perimeter and excellent sound insulation. Thirdly,
on the interior they provide thermal mass which means they can store the warmth of the
winter sun. And finally, in summer when the house is opened up at night, this massing is
cooled by breezes : the bricks can store coolth (a real word!) to offset the heat of the day.

A conventional cavity brick wall will perform better thermally than most other forms of
construction, and the Clay House, with its insulated cavity and tile external skin, will
outperform even traditional cavity brick.

How it all goes together:

The design will be preassembled in six individual modules. Each of these modules will be
constructed using prefabricated brick panels. The panels will be joined together to form
the external cavity walls and the internal walls. The pre-assembled modules have been
designed for easy transportation and craning onto site.

What makes this house special?

The Clay House of the Future does not look like a typical brick house. The courtyard
design provides a cross-ventilating, light-infused house with privacy and acoustic
insulation from neighbouring houses.

The structure of the Clay House is a series of modular panels, 1200 wide, that bolt
together to make the internal walls. This holds up the roof structure, which is insulated and
can be landscaped.

The external face of the brick walls are insulated and then clad with a ventilated terracotta
tile that is waterproof, can breathe, and offers security and thermal protection to the
interior. This is often called reverse brick veneer since the bricks are on the inside, and
the outside is an insulated veneer of clay tiles.
Internally, there is a wide choice of tiles including a full colour range, white, greys and
black. One wall shows a double size brick module made from 300x300 bricks which have
been diamond ground for accuracy and laid in a stack bond pattern.

The roof over the living area is constructed of two layers of glass with operable louvres
sandwiched in between. The louvres can be adjusted to control light and shade to the
courtyard living space. The external layer of glass has photo- voltaic cells embedded into it
to generate renewable electricity that can be fed back into the power grid.

Could you buy one of these now?

The Clay House is a prefabricated module and although no prefabricated brick houses are
presently available, this house and the solarium can be customised to suit any block and
constructed in the traditional way. But who knows what will be possible in the future?

One of the design features that the architects believe will become increasingly popular is
adaptable mobile furniture. As houses become smaller in area (to compensate for smaller
sites, environmental concerns and increasing costs), flexibly designed furniture allows
rooms to be used for different purposes throughout the day and in varying seasons. In the
Clay House, a mobile kitchen can be wheeled into the solarium or verandah to become a
BBQ, a table becomes a workbench or even a bed, and a bed can be used as a couch or
day bed.

What are the implications for the future of housing?

Australians love their suburban housing, but the recent past reveals some problem,
referred to as the 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 phenomenon. The average block is half the size of 50 years
ago, but houses are twice as big. As a result, many new houses are two storey, with
associated overshadowing and privacy problems, but have less occupants than before,
down to an average of two in the cities. This is unsustainable.

Versatility in the Clay House plan allows a smaller area for a 3-bedroom house that can fit
on a site less than 300 sq metres, whilst still offering car parking and a garden of at least
100 sq metres. This means we can fit 3 houses, all with privacy and outdoor areas, in an
area where 50 years ago we had just one. In addition, it will have much greater thermal
comfort without artificial heating and cooling.

Environmental features

Clay bricks provide thermal mass which saves heating and cooling costs. Thermal mass
moderates the effects of diurnal range or daily changes in temperature, so the house
retains heat in winter and is shielded against summer heat by coolth;

Bricks and terracotta tiles can be recycled, and manufactured in part from recycled
waste;

Clay bricks and terracotta tiles are robust and extremely durable as demonstrated by
their long service life in many traditional buildings. This means there is less waste as
materials and finishes dont need to be replaced;

Natural cross-ventilation breezes and sunlight are maximised by designing the house
around a central solarium courtyard;

Operable louvres in the roof over the solarium can be opened to heat the thermal mass
of the house in winter, completely closed to keep out the harsh summer sun or partly
opened to allow light, but not sun, to enter;

Photovoltaic cells on the external roof harness solar energy which is used to provide
renewable electricity to the house;

Rainwater is collected in vertical holding tanks between the internal walls, or in horizontal
tanks under the house. Stored water can be cleaned and used as fresh water, and
provides a large thermal well for hydronic heating and cooling panels to provide
additional heating and cooling;

The house can be completely unbolted and moved to another site for reuse, or separated
and recycled
 site links

http://www.claybrick.com.au/

http://www.brickbydesign.com/

FUTURE HOUSES

Niall McLaughlin Architects - Niall

McLaughlin, Sandra Coppin, Matt Driscoll

Houseboat, London (left)

Future House London

The Future House London exhibition explores the
changing nature of the house within the fabric of London.

Proposal by Niall McLaughlin Architects - Niall

McLaughlin, Sandra Coppin, Matt Driscoll
Unbuilt floating architecture

The Houseboat is a basket of woven carbon-fibre, containing inflatable elements at high and low levels. The lower range is for
flotation. The translucent upper range forms the roof of the structure; the trapped argon gas is an integral part of the insulation
of the house. By combining inflatable and woven elements, within the depth of the construction of the houseboat, we extend
the concept of interdependence between contained and container. The container and the contents rely on each other for
stability.

The house is divided into a sleeping zone and a single, large living space. An internal court concealing a private bath
separates them. The living space has high-level storage rails that can be lowered into the room.

You enter the Houseboat through a dense loggia of interwoven electronic elements that gather energy from the environment
and reuse it. In summer, the solar panels power a small pump, which draws water through copper coils hanging down into the
bottom of the river. Here the water is always cold. It cools the water in the pipes. This circulates through the outside wall of the
building.

In winter, the tiny amount of solar electricity is not needed for cooling. It is directed into the argon inflatable roof elements,
which work like very low powered fluorescent fittings, glowing gently through the long winter nights.

For further details about this project or the practice, please see: Niall McLaughlin Architects

last updated: 26 July 2004

Amin Taha Architects Ltd - Ben Addy, Amin Taha, Richard Cheesman, Sarah Griffiths

A40 Housing (left)

Future House London
The Future House London exhibition explores the changing nature of the house within the fabric
of London.

Proposal by Amin Taha Architects Ltd - Ben Addy, Amin Taha, Richard Cheesman, Sarah
Griffiths
Unbuilt reinterpretation architecture

Taking a political climate that spans Londons

post-war housing years, with the introduction of
vehicular orbitals and by-passes, to the acute
land shortage and affordable housing demands
of today. the proposal aims to draw on the
original London House archetype and its urban
relationship. Placed on black and brown-field
sites, the study attempts to define the new urban
village green.

Beginning with a hard, sparsely penetrated surface on the roads edge, the individual houses turn
inwards to shared and protected gardens
The multiplied building form evolves along the length of the highway, breaking down the visual
and aural skyline, allowing the single person household, maisonette or house to reform a social
connection with neighbours and passers-by.
This social-passing-trade is treated as a reciprocal promenading, defining the contents and unit
mix within the skin and helping to define the neighbourhood.

The open aspect of the scheme anticipates a direct dialogue between internal spaces and the
external gardens, with living spaces projected into the boughs of London plane trees and over
narrow strips of communal parkland.

For further details about this project or the practice, please see: Amin Taha Architects Ltd

last updated: 26 July 2004

Future House London
The Future House London exhibition explores
the changing nature of the house within the
fabric of London.

Proposal by Matthew White

Unbuilt found space architecture The Traveller (left)

'The Traveller' is imagined to be one of the many

occasional residents of London who form a vital
part of its anatomy and yet can suffer the brunt of its housing problems. He sidesteps the
prohibitive land costs that force so many people out of the city by colonising the roofscapes of
existing buildings that could not support the weight of an extra storey of traditional development.

His house is prefabricated and modular meaning that he can benefit from production line
manufacturing - offering lower costs with improved quality - whilst retaining sufficient flexibility in
each 'section' to lie, snake across or encircle a wide range roof sites.

Reducing the density of the house increases the volume - allowing him to enjoy exceptionally
spacious accommodation at very low cost. The bulk of the cost that he does have is an
investment in a real capital 'thing' which he is able to sell on or even take away. He avoids the
prohibitive cost of a mobile crane - being able to take most of the pieces up in the lift - or even
the stairs.

The largest parts - kitchen and bathroom elements - are small enough to winch up over the side.
He negotiates a minimal rent with the owner of the roof because he is bringing value to
somewhere that had none before.

You never know - he may even stop travelling.

Matthew White is 31 and studied at Manchester and Edinburgh. After graduation he joined Foster
and Partners and worked on schemes including the Millennium Bridge, Albion Wharf (residential),
Newbury Racecourse and More London (commercial). Most recently he has started with Ken
Shuttleworth's new practice - make.

For further details about this project or the practice, please see: Matthew White
last updated: 28 July 2004

Marcin Panpuch architecture and design

A Sphere (left)

Future House London

The Future House London exhibition explores the
changing nature of the house within the fabric of
London.

Proposal by Marcin Panpuch architecture and design

Unbuilt floating architecture

The proposed house module can be relocated as often as required by family and works
demands; a city tower, a river home, a rural retreat. A sphere has 25% less surface area than a
cube of the same volume; minimising the perimeter, means reducing the heat loss.

The designed sphere house is divided into three floors that are organised around a core -
services/distribution wall. Open plan design allows easy changes to work and living spaces.
The core includes: stairs, kitchen, bathroom and toilets. The service/distribution wall
accommodates all ducts, services, central heating system and electrical connections between
floors. The upper floor is designed as a highly flexible living space with up to two entrance points
allowing exit to the outside. The lower floor houses working space, sleeping area and the main
entrance. The lowest floor is designed to accommodate necessary services/storage.

The aim is that the house will produce as much energy as it consumes. The energy is produced
by photo voltaic cells and accumulated in batteries. The main floor is designed to store heat
during the day and distribute it at night. The water tank can also act as a medium for heat
storage. All the devices that control the internal environment of the house (sun screens, air
intakes/exhausts) are designed to be manually and automatically controlled. All waste produced
by occupants can be stored while the house floats and when moored, the waste is disposed of to
the public utilities.
For further details about this project or the practice, please see: Marcin Panpuch
Future House London
The Future House London exhibition explores the
changing nature of the house within the fabric of
London.

Proposal by Bill Dunster architects /

ZEDfactory ltd in association with PRP
ZEDfactor
Unbuilt found space architecture

The site is an unloved Wandsworth traffic island in Zone 2, with excellent public transport nodes.
We designed a four storey car free office plinth for the local authority, capped with a communal
roof garden complete with creche and residents bar/ caf.

Two 35 storey aerodynamic blades house around 300 affordable key worker one and two
bedroom shared ownership flats. The blades are connected every six floors with generous lift
lobbies incorporating communal herb gardens and shared social space for residents in glazed
conservatories with a spectacular view over London.

The homes are placed high enough above the traffic to dilute air pollution to normal London
standards, and the superinsulated, thermally massive construction with triple glazing and heat
recovery ventilation not only reduces thermal requirements to about one fifth of a normal home,
but also provides excellent acoustic isolation.

Double glazed conservatories with opening windows are provided for every home. The building
has been designed to focus the prevailing wind onto building integrated wind turbines providing
all the homes' annual electrical requirements from renewable energy generated within the sites
boundaries.

The existing underpass system is renovated and a series of glazed courtyards created, making it
safe and easy to cross from the station to the new Wandsworth riverside quarter, effectively
healing the damage to the urban fabric done by traffic engineering in the 1970s.
For further details about this project or the practice, please see: Bill Dunster Architects

Web House (left)

Future House London

The Future House London exhibition explores the
changing nature of the house within the fabric of
London.

Proposal by m3 architects - Nadi Jahangiri,

Ken Hutt and Ivy Chan
Unbuilt found space architecture

The design tackles the notion that the optimum 'site' for a building is a flat piece of
unencumbered land. With the scarcity of available building land in London, large blank gable
ends, exposed service cores or plant rooms in the City can represent 'brownfield' sites. Getting
24-hour use out of a site is our objective. After the office workers go home, the residents of the
Web House come home.

The Web House can be constructed anywhere. Hung from bridges, strung between buildings,
straddling roads or railway lines. On this occasion it is hung from the side of an office building in
Old Street.

The inflatable skin is brought to site on a 3m x 3m x 3m pallet with the structural cabling. The
cabling is hung from hooks fixed back to the structure through the joints in the cladding. The skin
is dropped into the net and inflated. The structural core is dropped in through the top of the skin
and acts as the structure to the floors. The structural core also houses the utilities and supports
the kitchen units and wc functions.

Access and services are shared through the existing office core and an additional wall climber lift
is provided.

For further details about this project or the practice, please see: m3architects
last updated: 28 July 2004

Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture - Richard Cottrell, Brian Vermeulen & Maria Westersthl

Re-Used House (left)

Future House London

The Future House London exhibition explores the changing nature of the house within the fabric of London.

Proposal by Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture - Richard Cottrell, Brian Vermeulen & Maria Westersthl
Unbuilt recycled architecture

Each year in the UK, some 30 million tonnes of waste are produced by the demolition of buildings. The Re-Used House is
part of a larger research study, funded in part by the DTI, which aims to encourage a wider use of reclaimed building materials
in construction. The construction of the house will test and influence the theoretical conclusions of the study.

The brief for the house is a vicarage. It forms part of a larger development commissioned by All Saints Church in Birmingham.
The project is currently in detail design and will be built in 2005.

The use of reclaimed materials is not the same as recycling, where materials are transformed to form a new product. To re-
use is to use something as it is.

The innovation of the Re-Used House lies in the process of re-using rather than originality of systems and components. The
structure is a mixture of rammed earth or rubble walls and framed construction. The spans are generally small and most
framing can be timber. Rubble can be found on site. Ventilation is mostly natural, relying on shutters in each room. Found
windows will achieve target U-values through layering. The conservatory and thermal mass of the sedum roof will help to
smooth out temperature extremes.

For further details about this project or the practice, please see: Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture
last updated: 26 July 2004

FUSIONarchitects Nicola Gerber and Tiran Driver

BIGback (left)

Future House London

The Future House London exhibition explores the changing nature of the house within the fabric of London.

Proposal by FUSIONarchitects Nicola Gerber and Tiran Driver

Unbuilt found space architecture

Our urban vision for future living is the colonization of Londons backyards creating a new cityscape, which keeps its face -
the terrace house. We introduce a new scale and typology of sustainable high-density figures re-reading the city as a collage
of historical image and global dimension.

For further details about this project or the practice, please see: FUSIONarchitects

last updated: 23 July 2004

Michaelis Boyd Associates Architects - Alex Michaelis

Low Build Contempory Eco House, West London (left)

Future House London

The Future House London exhibition explores the changing nature of the house within the fabric of London.

Proposal by Michaelis Boyd Associates Architects - Alex Michaelis

Unbuilt found space architecture

The aim of this project was to build an environmentally sustainable, detached, five-bedroom town house, complete with indoor
pool and children's play area. With restrictions to build no higher than the 6ft boundary wall to achieve invisibility from the
street, this two-storey house has been driven down into the ground. The house also incorporates a climbing wall, an internal
slide and circular wall openings to create an inside-outside adventure playground for the children.

The houses subterranean design benefits from the grounds insulating properties, lowering heating and cooling requirements.
All additional energy requirements are achieved by using environmentally conscious systems.

The borehole to the subterranean aquefer is 110 metres deep and the water extracted is filtered for domestic supply. The
temperature differential is used via a heat pump to provide both the underfloor space heating and hot water for the house. A
solar awning houses evacuated tube solar water heaters, which work alongside the heat pump to fulfil all domestic hot water
requirements.

The solar awning also houses photovoltaic panels, providing electricity to both the house and the electric car. With all the
systems working together this home will only require minimal electricity from the grid during the winter months, and in the
summer months it will even return surplus electricity generated.

For further details about this project or the practice, please see: Michaelis Boyd Associates

last updated: 26 July 2004

PKS Architects - Christian Spry

Sky-Yard (left)

Future House London

The Future House London exhibition explores the changing nature of the house within the fabric of London.

Proposal by PKS Architects - Christian Spry

Unbuilt found space architecture

Inhabiting the unused roofscape of an office building in Camden Town: a specific living environment for an architect and an
actress, both experimenting in farm living.
A self sufficient sustainable sky-yard in the heart of the city delivers fresh produce directly to the local community.

Individual houses sit independently within a communal courtyard landscape.

Each house and its inhabitant inform each other in a creative symbiosis.

A simple(r) life in a complex world.

For further details about this project or the practice, please see: PKS Architects

last updated: 28 July 2004

Squire and Partners - William Jefferies, Barnaby Johnston and Tim Sheridan

Fluid City - Liquid Living (left)

Future House London

The Future House London exhibition explores the changing nature of the house within the fabric of London.

Proposal by Squire and Partners - William Jefferies, Barnaby Johnston and Tim Sheridan
Unbuilt floating architecture

Fluid City Liquid Living is conceived from the future scenario that the Thames Flood Plain is underwater, and how
communities might still inhabit the area. The proposal questions the validity of the urban expansion into East London and
proposed development of the Thames Gateway.

The proposal addresses how the flooded area could still be sustainably inhabited and connected to the rest of London. It also
more generally suggests that London reassesses its relationship to the river and makes more use of it in the future. Very few
Londoners currently use the River Thames for transport, leisure or habitation, making it one of the least exploited resources in
the capital. Fluid City Liquid Living promotes floating dwellings which rise and fall according to tide, and are linked by new
transport nodes both under and over the water.

The dwellings are designed to be eco-friendly to the new marsh ecology, working with the new environment rather than
spending large amounts of money guarding against it. Recycled containers are proposed for the floating decks, with
prefabricated, insulated timber structures above. The dwellings are proposed as easily adaptable and moveable, and capable
of connecting to piers that provide access to digital communications and power.

Transport in the new fluid city would be based on the existing underground network extended to waterlevel platforms from
which boats can ferry people to nearby locations. There would also be larger ferry systems and a rail loop on pillars above the
water.

For further details about this project or the practice, please see: Squire and Partners
last updated: 11 August 2004

urban future organization with Dirk Anderson and Artur Fereira Viveiros

Nested House V1.03 (left)

Future House London

The Future House London exhibition explores the changing nature of the house within the fabric of London.

Proposal by urban future organization with Dirk Anderson and Artur Fereira Viveiros
Unbuilt reinterpretation architecture

The Nested House V1.03 is a small in-fill conversion in Hackney. It is intended to perform as a refuge, a clutter-free
environment free of bricks and mortar removed from the grit and buzz of Hackney. There is a demand for a great deal of
privacy and anonymity as well as the possibility of catering for larger social events and their frequent overnight visitors. The
sombre external treatment is only offering subtle hints of something extraordinary, effectively cloaking what goes on behind it.

The internal space is organized around two nests, cocoon or philo-pastry-like enclosures, where material principles are
scavenged and adapted in the search for a lightweight discrete structure in which form, content, structural considerations and
materiality are one and the same. The nests have floors, walls and roofs acting in unison as a lightweight inhabited beam
addressing the typical London scenario of building on and in existing buildings where one has only a limited opportunity of
altering the existing structural conditions.

The two nests containing the sleeping areas are shifted in section allowing for oblique views between the different levels. The
plan and section are both entirely open in order to maximize the vertical connection between the ground, first, second and
third floor roof garden with its roll-up lawn. The roof garden, sited on top of the two nests constituting the roof is acting like an
outdoor living room with its greenery, garden tools and unobstructed views of the city of London skyline.

For further details about this project or the practice, please see: urban future organization
APPENDIX 1
Very roughly a surface is orientable if it has two sides so that, for example, is it possible to paint it
with two different colours. A sheet of paper or the surface of a sphere are examples of orientable
surfaces. A Mobius strip is a non-orientable surface: you can build one with a strip of paper (twist
the strip and glue end together to form a ring) and verify that it has only one side: it is not
possible to paint it with two colours.

In short a Mobius strip only has one side and one edge.

Ants would be able to walk on the Mobius strip on a single surface indefinitely since there is no
edge in the direction of their movement. Just like what M.C. Escher depicted in his famous
picture (shown on the right.)

Mobius strip was named after the astronomer and mathematician August Ferdinand Mbius
(1790-1868). He came up with his 'strip' in September 1858. Independently, German
mathematician Johann Benedict Listing (1808-1882) devised the same object in July 1858.
Perhaps we should be talking about the Listing strip instead of the Mobius strip.

The Mbius Strip

1. Start with a long rectangle (ABCD)

made of paper.

2. Give the rectangle a half twist.

3. Join the ends so that A is matched with D and B is

matched with C.
This curious surface is called a Mbius Strip or Mbius Band, named after August
Ferdinand Mbius, a nineteenth century German mathematician and astronomer, who
was a pioneer in the field of topology. Mbius, along with his better known
contemporaries, Riemann, Lobachevsky and Bolyai, created a non-Euclidean revolution
in geometry.

Mbius strips have found a number of surprising applications that exploit a remarkable
property they possess: one-sidedness. Joining A to C and B to D (no half twist) would
produce a simple belt-shaped loop with two sides and two edges -- impossible to travel
from one side to the other without crossing an edge. But, as a result of the half twist, the
Mbius Strip has only one side and one edge!

To demonstrate this, (1) start midway between the "edges" of a Mbius Strip and draw a
line down its center; continue the line until you return to your starting point. Did you ever
cross an edge? (2) Next, hold the edge of a Mbius Strip against the tip of a felt-tipped
highlighter pen. Color the edge of the Mbius Strip by holding the highlighter still and just
rotating the Mobius Strip around. Were you able to color the entire edge? (3) Now, with
scissors cut the Mobius Strip along the center line that you drew. Then draw a center line
around the resulting band, and cut along it. Did you predict what would happen?

Giant Mbius Strips have been used as conveyor belts (to make them last longer, since
"each side" gets the same amount of wear) and as continuous-loop recording tapes (to
double the playing time). In the 1960's Sandia Laboratories used Mbius Strips in the
design of versatile electronic resistors. Free-style skiers have christened one of their
acrobatic stunts the Mbius Flip.

The famous artist, M.C. Escher, used mathematical themes in some of his work, including
a Mbius parade of ants. His flight of swans looks like it might be a Mbius Strip, but it's
not. Can you see why not?

Martin Gardner wrote an amusing short story based on the Mbius Strip called
"The No-sided Professor," which you can find in Fantasia Mathematica, a book
edited by Clifton Fadiman.