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Switch ‘on & on’

Conceived as a ‘Floating House’ on a ‘Platform House’, House: SWITCH combines two distinct thermal conditions to minimize energy consumption.

The ‘Platform House’ provides a protective thermal enclosure and functional spaces for colder seasons. The ‘Floating House’ is designed to be built out of light, pre-fabricated components with a passively cooled system, optimized for the summer season. The ‘Floating House’ is opened to the terrace and inner courtyard. This configuration responds to extreme climate swings through simple and logical divisions of the house’s energy systems. Thus, House: SWITCH provides its inhabitants with a dual mode of living as they occupy a space that expands and contracts according to the seasons.

The carved volumes from the thermal mass are filled with various functions, inside occupiable space and outside courtyard, resulting in a series of green terraces on the roofs. The first floor is optimized in its shape and organization for particular patterns of living. The main structure in the center houses vertical circulation, bathroom, kitchen, book shelve and a gallery foyer. Experienced in the round, its configuration connects views to the outside across a continuous large living space.

The sleeping space could be exchanged between the Platform house and the Floating house based on the seasonal changes considering energy saving, heat absorption and release. The roof of the Floating house is optionally available to include an IVY photovoltaic array in an optimized orientation.

Climatic zones and energy saving SWITCH ‘ON & ON’ expands and contracts with shifting usable and changing temperatures. In order to conserve energy, its inhabitants can choose to live mostly in the Platform House during the winter. This thermal mass heated and conditioned zone is protected with 60mm of rigid insulation, and heated mostly by passive means. Inhabitants can choose to further warm this space with radiant heating provided in the floor slab and greenery earth on the roof. During the summer, inhabitants can choose to stay in the Floating house, which provides natural shading through roof plants and vegetation. The house is directly ventilated through back terrace , courtyard and even swing shutter with overhanging windows by passive cooling. This approach will maintain temperatures in both houses at a ~30% differential between inside and outside in each season. Additionally IVY photovoltaic leaves help to minimize lighting energy consumption and to create a continuous green landscape aesthetically.

Switch ‘on & on’
WHO‘S NEXT 2.0 International House Design Competition 2010 / FINALIST
Dimension: 40’ x 50‘ (2000 sf) / Budget: 400,000-600,000 USD