MINIMA bunk house

week 4 submission
site analysis, development sketches & precedent studies

design concept
the 'bunk house' is located at the northern entrance to the lane, fitting snugly between the columns of the west wall.
its position in the lane allows for sun capture, whilst its narrow footprint is unobtrusive, enabling pedestrian traffic to pass through
the design takes advantage of the vertical nature of the lane, shifting functions 'up' the wall, including sleeping and a roof-top garden or sitting area, accessed via a ladder
designed with a plinth-type base for relocation with a forklift
lightweight external skin of louvres for sun control, ventilation and privacy

MOSMAN 2 test & refine presentation (part of)

MOSMAN 2 refining

These are some sketches that didn't make it to the final presentation.

This sketch of a typical Bedroom module shows the concave ceiling with glass infill between the rooms, the space allowing for a ceiling fan.
The bed is custom sized, not queen or king-single, its extra long and about the same width as a double.
It was important for me to have somewhere to sit in the bedroom, other than the bed, so we 'sculpted' the bedhead into a low lying seat. The wardrobe is hidden by a single sliding panel that is hung by a rail.


The studio space is very different to the intimate 'cave-like' feeling of the Bedrooms. It's light and airy, you can see the timber louvred walls at the rear, and the cantilevered desk that runs the perimeter. And the centrepiece, a high-level layout bench that's suspended by floor-to-ceiling cables. This is where we gather to discuss 'important matters'.

Mosman 5: Blogs

For all the posts under the heading 'Mosman 5' are to be considered as group post which we all have agreed on. Mosman 5 includes: Lim Wei Jye, Xuanyi Zhu, Zehuan Zhang, Zele Zhang, Lu Sun

M3: Test and Refine: Ventilation

Fluid mapping tests indicated to us the thermal chimney (via the literal chimney "hole" in the central apex) works as designed. Cross flow ventilation also works well through the communal courtyard.
The bedroom spaces however had a lot of dead air. The fans above both spaces draw air up from these spaces into the free flowing air higher up.

MINIMA

My Minima study with development ideas.

Mosman 5: Test & Refine Feedback

1) Would like to see people in the pod
2) Better if show furnitures and the rail of the movable table in the pod
3) Need to show more structural connection details such as the movable mosquito screen in the presentation.
4) Add more people into the presentation drawings to liven up the design

Mosman 5: Domus Refined

Mosman 5: Refine

After conducting all the suitable testings, we found out that the original domus design worked very well in terms of cooling, heating and ventilation. And so, we decided to refine on details as well respond to the design feedback of the current design scheme. We also refined the set of drawings which previously have mistakes.

Mosman 5: Test - Water Analysis

As calculated, the roof area is around 459 m square which can collect around 270000 litres annually at Djillimabardi. The current design has 4 tanks able to collect around 80000 litres which are sufficient to collect all the water during the month of highest rainfall.

Mosman 5: Test - Fluid mapping

The fluid map shows the pods have good ventilation and benefits from winds of 4 direction. There are however a few pods which can benefit every direction of the wind.

Mosman 5: Test - Heat loss calculations

The heat calculations show the annual heating load of total 13 pods are 469.27 Wh which means the annual heating load for one pod is only 36.1Wh, an impressive figure. Given that only one person per pod, the heat generated by the body alone can heat up the whole pod. Approximate heat given out by the body during sleep is 66kW per hour.

Mosman 5: Test - Cooling calculations

The calculations show the building envelope worked so well that the required cooling load per pod is only 0.231 kW which means natural ventilation alone can cool down the pods when the temperature usuallys falls to around 25 degrees during summer night. Projected use of the pod is 2-3 hours + sleeping hours per day when most of the activities are carried out in the semi open communal space. Total cooling load for 13 pods are only around 3kW

Mosman 5: Test - Ecotect & sun shadow diagrams

As tested, the diagrams show that the roof worked well by giving effective shadings on all sides during the year. The tilted position to the northeast contributed as well

Mosman 5: Test - time temperature chart

Mosman 5: Feedback for Domus

1) More detailed sections and to show the pods' interior
2) Adjustable roof for starglaze/better view
3) Dusts
4) More research on Aboriginal culture, housing concept
5) Needed a better structure to support the roof apart from poles

Mosman 5: Some sustainable features

1) Locally sourced materials
2) Gutter to collect rainwater
3) Minimal space - one pod per person - minimizes heat loss, heating and cooling
4) Solar panels for electricity
5) Open layout - promote ventilation
6) Exterior sleeping space
7) Elevated communal spaces with gaps between flooring timber - promote ventilation
8) Gaps between roof - stack ventilation
9) Large roof - effective shading - minimizing heat gain from direct contact with the sun
10) Plan tilted with long side facing northeast - minimizes contact with the low west sun - larger surface area to be hit by the prominent easterly winds
11) Water tanks to collect rainwater

Mosman 5: Domus Thumbnails

Mosman 5: Final Presentation

Mosman 5: Domus

Few fundamental principles in our design:

1)Coherence with the landscape and surroundings+culture
2)Transportability and ease of erection
3)Environmentally friendly and sustainable
4)Australian architecture based
5)Private and communal

It all started off with this picture:

The rocky outcrops at the northeast became the main source of inspiration for the plan layout. And taken from minima was the small sized space for a person to live in. Pods were chosen as they can easily be pre-fabricated and transported to the site. And so the domus was divided into private and communal spaces with private spaces revolving around the communal spaces. To blend in with the landscape, the long form was used, low and horizontal expand the vast flat landscape. The soft wave on the roof was to refer to the sand. Each pods seperated with each other opening up the communal space letting good ventilation and embrace the semi nomadic architecture of the aboriginals. Above the pods are exterior sleeping spaces. 'Touch the Earth Lightly', and so we had almost every component lifted up above the ground with little damage or modifications to the ground, part of aboriginal's belief that the ground is sacred. The lifting also gave the domus a light impression. Height difference between the communal space made the effect of height visually more effective and to seperate between function of spaces. Material wise, timber as lightweight material is chosen along with the australian vernacular, corrugated sheet. Transition of the texture and colours of the corrugated sheet refers to the ever changing vast landscape in the desert. Lightweight material gives off heat quickly and is more suitable for the weather though initially we thought of heavy thermal mass but that could cause overheating during the warm and cool night. Movable mosquito screen is added to resist fly and mosquitoes. The roof is the main component of the domus. Initially, it was designed as one big piece and attempted to accomodate and hide the solar panel by manipulating the roof. However, we were later told it was hard to erect and the form was not realistic and not honest and so we decided to have the solar panels located to the side of the domus and had the roof divided into 4 parts to ease erection. The form of the roof was tested and adjusted to be able to use along with gutters at the side to collect rainwater. Coated fabric was proposed as the roof material due to the soft and light character of it. As a tensile structure, it'll be supported with poles and strings on the sides to for tension and strength. Initially we looked on to Frei Otto's work, however we soon found out that his work revolved too much on the inside structures which support the roof and involved too much calculation and so we decided to look into the nomadic roofs and tent which are simple but have there own character. Rammed earth benches were added at few spots on the ground that surrounds the communal spaces. The ground served as a link between the communal spaces and the pods. The long sides were to face the northeast where the rocky outcrops are located. The area between the solar panels and the domus can serve as an outdoor activity area

Development to final:

Can't get the pictures to open up when clicked. Any idea what's going wrong?