Votes:
15
Vista_Rama
cmDesign Atelier cmD+A - Nigeria
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Drawings, plans, elevations
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VISTA_RAMA : framed panoramic views of the Sea Lagos is famous for being one of the most populated urban centres in Africa with the expected population to reach 40 million by 2020. Though Lagos is located along the coast of West Africa, she is not known for her vast expanse of coastal beaches. The peninsular along the Badagry axis has fast become the destination for beach tourism and leisure. Due to the logistical challenges to access this area, it has remained exclusive to the local villagers and the avid visitors. As this strip of beach land silently urbanizes, the Lagos beach house has become a standardized typology. This part of Lagos is still considered rural, as such strict development regulations are not yet enforced, as such there is much freedom for the Architect to design without restraint. However, our approach was to place a minimal building conscious of its surrounds with use of local materials in the process. The typology of the beach house is well developed in this area and though regulatory laws are not enforced it is common to see developments conscious of the environment. We approached our brief attempting to address the question of how a Lagosian would intend to enjoy spending time at the Beach. Our emphasis was to ensure we had a the pool partially shaded as we had observed that most Lagosians prefer to be in the shade than in the sun. This factor informed the orientation of the building form. Our brief was to design a house with no hierarchy given to any of the three bedrooms. As this is not a permanent home, groups of friends or family may visit and no preference was to be given to any dwelling space. The building is constructed out of reinforced concrete and sandcrete block; standard local building materials, we however clad the building in willow-reed, a material locally sourced from Badadgry and transported along the lagoon to the peninsular. It grows at lengths of up to 6 meters and has a consistent girth ranging from 20mm – 35mm along its length. This makes it a viable cladding material. It is also durable as it is not susceptible to terminates or erosion. The building was constructed in 11 months and completed in November 2015.
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