CONCEPT Creating a sustainable house in Egypt means regulating the amount of sun and heat allowed into the house. Creating a skin outside the house which initiates a buffer zone to cool the air before entering the house is one of the elements of the core created in oriental house. This house uses an oriental screen to regulate the temperature of the house.
SUSTAINABLE TENSILE MATERIALS TM Grade PVC Architectural G. PVC Commodity G.PVC Waterproof LDPE PTFE coated glass Waterproof PVC Permeable PVC Mesh
Permeable Shadecloth
Combining the traditional tensile materials to the oriental idea of the mashrabiya, the screen of this sustainable house was created. It further utilizes the sun energy to automatically adjust the intensity of shading. The screen of the house is made of a double layer of modern tensile structure combined with a biometal which expands and contracts due to heat. The engaged biometal extends the textile when its hot and contracts it when it’s cold, creating a natural automatic system in response to the environment. The screens are further flexible and user adapted as the most up and down creating multi-layers to increase the shading intensity. The screens slide to the sides regulating the amount of allowed sunlight and creating an intimate terrace on the western façade.
Details scale 1:20
E N V I R O N M E N T A L TENSILE BENEFITS Transparency UV-‐Resistant Light Weight Rapid onsite installation Graphic customization Fabrics are Fire Retardant Low cost, Robust Durable Flame-‐resistant mesh fabric
Scale 1:50
North Elevation
South Elevation
OPERATION
Bistable mechanism (capacitor) which is programmed to deform an aper-‐ ture, complying to variable thermal loads and direct solar radiation to pro-‐ vide shade and thermal comfort regulation between an exterior and interior space.Elastic properties, precedents and materials are studied and modeled to identify the maximum stress and strain force.
Expanded Contracted Biometal Biometal (hot) (cold)
East Elevation
Materials and structures are capable of deform-‐ ing and returning to an original size and shape without permanent deformation. Bistable struc-‐ tural mechanisms, organized with elastic spring steel strips and pin connections, in the form of an aperture, are then investigated as a capaci-‐ tor. The capacitor utilizes prestressed struc-‐ tural strips which deform an aperture by means of a passive thermostat coil actuator. The in-‐ creasing storage of elastic strain energy is pro-‐ grammed to rotate and close the aperture at a maximum stressed position, at which point, it is capable of releasing the stored kinetic energy with a decrease in heat input, triggering the mechanism to open the aperture instantly. The arrangement of the self adjusting shade system is organized and manipulated spatially through a variety of prototype developments as a pas-‐ sive glass enclosure for the east and west fa-‐ cades of buildings
Terrace
Section A-‐A
Section B-‐B