Votes:
26
Cube House
Crescendo Designs Limited - Zambia
With the rising human population, limited urban space, limited resources and high construction costs; it is time for African to envision a new form of Architecture that is responsive to our needs and sustainable to our environment. This is the kind of architecture that gives us space that is efficient, sustainable and green. The Cube house is that architecture. Compared with common complex house forms; the Cube House has a Simple form with low foot print but high usable capacity making it a more efficient option. The cube house concept emanates from the transformations of a cube box made from two cube shells. With one cube shell being flexible and movable while the other is rigid and fixed; the cube house creates an endless possibility of house space solutions for the modern day to day housing demands thus enabling us to achieve much with little space. This revolution of the housing space by the cube is what we are calling cubevolution. The rationale behind this design is maximizing the use of space through functional multiplicity of space. In pursuit of an eco-sustainable green solution to the increasing energy and housing demand, the Cube House is the solution to the future housing crisis for Africa and beyond. The proposed construction site for this house is Kafue District, an urban settlement just 20 minutes drive from the epicenter of the densely urbanized Capital City of Zambia , Lusaka. This design is premised of four facets: 1. Efficiency: The cube as a functional form provides opportunity for efficient use of space by getting rid of wasteful transitional spaces such as corridors and foirs while at the same time creating enough interior height to provide storage space. The absence of complex forms and decorations ensures minimal use of technology and construction materials. Limited space size and retractable openable structural components ensures low energy usage for cooling and heating by enhancing passive-structural means of regulating the internal thermal environment i.e. the suspended swimming pool cools the house as well as being a reservoir for the rainwater harvested. 2. Simplicity and Beauty: The Clean and clear cut structural form ensures low maintenance costs and the design cost is relatively cheap and less time consuming. 'Simplicity is the essence of design'. 3. Multifactionality of Spaces: most spaces in the design are flexibly transformed according to the needs at hand. For instance the kitchen floor is convertible to a bedroom at night by simply moving the seats and opening the floor for the bed to pop up, the upper floor can also be transformed to a meet the need at hand. 4. Structural Simplicity and Design: This design allows for infinite extension possibilities and is capable of accommodating the ever changing need throughout the entire family cycle. The geometric consistency in the structural form enables easy and cheaper extensions as well as the use of prefabricated components that can be created at a factory and quickly assembled on site without the need for specialized skilled personnel and machinery.