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The Bespoke Garden Window Group Design Report
AR7022 Applied Technology in ArchitectureThe Bespoke Window
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Group 10 : Temperate/Ground Floor Garden
Michelle Lo Marie Magnien Dahu Mumagi Chris Powell Zimmie Sutcliffe
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1.1 Brief
“This year’s ATA design charette investigates the design processes, fabrication methods and sense of collaboration necessary to design a bespoke window.
The charette aims to promote a direct engagement with material properties and afford an understanding of how thinking and drawing, allied with making, can inform design.
In some cases – private houses and significant public buildings – the opportunity presents itself for the window to become a bespoke element that responds both to the climatic and spatial context that the window looks out on to and the spatial and material characteristics of the room which it is to illuminate and ventilate, (remember the etymological root of window – “wind eye” or “wind hole”).
This is your project, to imagine a domestic living room in a particular climatic and spatial situation and design a bespoke window that responds to it.” (Payne, Grandorge, 2018)
The climatic and spatial conditions for our project are:A temperate climate – neither very hot nor coldA garden from the ground floor
Temperate climateUnited Kingdom
Temperate zone, Meteoblue, 2018
1.2 Temperate climate
“This classification covers a range of climates from near-Mediterranean climates and humid, sub-tropical zones to maritime climates influenced by the oceans - like ours in the UK. The former are mostly found on the western side of continents at 30-45° latitude. Summers can be either hot or warm, but they are always markedly drier than other times of the year. Humid, subtropical climates tend to be in the middle or on the eastern side of continents at 25-45° latitude. Summers here are humid with plenty of rain, but winters are usually dry. Some temperate climates have wet and dry seasons while others have no marked dry season at all. But all have four distinct seasons.” (Met Office, 2015)
LONDON
London Borough of Tower Hamlets within London
Position of London within the UK
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Max sun height - 4:54 pm
Max sun height - 7:10 pm
Sunset - 9:58 pm
Sunset - 9:17 pm
Sunrise - 4:46 am
Sunrise - 7:05 am
1.4 Orientation Sun path - Spring Equinox, 20th March 2019 Sun path - Summer solstice, 21st June 2019
How to orientate the space containing our window was a fundamental early decision. We chose to place our window in a south facing facade to maximise internal daylight in a climate without an abundance of sun, particularly in the winter.
This proposed an interesting challenge in mitigating against excess solar gain in the summer and shading against glare from low angled sun in the winter, as well as ventilating the space whilst maintaining a complete thermal barrier. Being south facing means controlling solar gain in the summer is particularly vital. The following diagrams show the variety of sun conditions throughout the year.
Sunset - 6:55 pm
Max sun height - 08:50 am
Sunset - 4:49 pm
Sunrise - 6:49 am
Max sun height - 9:07 am
Sunrise - 4:19 am
Sun path - Autumn Equinox, 23rd September 2019
Sun path - Winter solstice, 22nd December 2019
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2. Precedents studies & Design Development
2.1 Fisher House, Louis Kahn. Pennsylvania, USA.
The Fisher House was designed by the architect Louis Kahn and built for the family Fisher in 1967. The house is sited along the top ridge of a slight hill. A small wood and a creek runs along at the bottom of the hill. The house is positioned so that the view of the woods could be framed. The use of timber comes from the familly’s desire to create a very warm and homely atmosphere in the living spaces.
Kahn often used the windows indentations into the home to create occupiable spaces, such as a bench on the ground floor main living area. He conceived details out of the window ledge, and created not only a seating area, but also a set of selves for out of sight storage. The deep recession also allows them to be opened during storms without allowing rain to come into the house. These uses were seen as very innovative at the time.
A large stone hearth next to the window seat makes it the perfect place to relax with a book while contemplating the forest. This bench is a good example of how to emphasis on a view. By making the window a complex piece of furniture, the surrounding landscape becomes the setting of the family life.
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2.5 Housing in Amsterdam. Netherlands.
A very pleasant room due to the quality of the light. The corner window emphasis on the street scene. The room is away from the city but at the same time totally part of it. The luminosity and the framing have as a goal to bring the exterior inside of the flat.
Sketch models and final sketches to test the different ideas retrieved from the precedents studies.
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South Elevation � 1:20 @ A3
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West Elevation � 1:20 @ A3
East Elevation � 1:20 @ A3
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Development sketch for a bespoke window.
Interior model Photograph, South West Sunlight Study, David Grandorge
3.2 Inhabitation and Use
The key design challenge is to propose something that is bespoke and yet not inflexible: accommodating customization and reconfiguration to an individual’s unique sense of comfort. Even a temperate climate will have a fluctuation of environmental conditions for which a fixed design will not be adequate.
We envisioned creating a reading nook and node for observation and socialisation, somewhere to spend the afternoon reading under the sun, with a view of the garden. The window offsets into the garden space, blurring the threshold between the interior and the exterior, so that the user is immersed into nature whilst staying within the comforts of a modern dwelling - the best of both worlds.
First, we addressed the need to accommodate a variety of uses by incorporating multi-purpose, built-in furniture into the design of the window. The window cill extends into the interior to form a chassis of sorts, one that can be used as a window seat, a book shelf, or a storage cabinet. On the exterior, an integrated planter softens the edge between dwelling and garden, as well as serving the purposes of passive solar shading and rainwater collection.
Through a rigorous design process of sketching, allied with model-making, we refined our design to include a number of passive design strategies, so that the user’s expectations for daylight and environmental comfort are met on a diurnal basis.
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3. Glazed, right hand outswing door, facing southeast
Air intake through south-west facing, louvres.
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1. Operable louvres, facing south-west
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Mid Level Plan. 1:20 @ A2
Thermal
mass
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the
terracotta
tiles
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concrete floor slab slowly
re-radiates solar heat gain
to keep the interiors warm
during a cool winter night.
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2. Fixed, dualaspect corner window, facing south
Vegetation in the integrated planter filters and purifies incoming air, and collects rainwater from the roof.
1. 2. 3.
Types of windows and openings employed.Proposed passive ventilation and cooling strategies.
Wind rose for London shows the south-west to be the prevailing wind direction.
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Interior Render Showing everyday inhabitation
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Ground Floor Plan
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Plan. 1:20 @ A2
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Detail 2.2
Detail 1.2
Detail 1.1
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Section 2-2 � 1:20 @ A3 North West Facing Orthogonal to window cut through bench seat.
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Section 1-1 � 1:20 @ A3 East Facing Orthogonal to exisiting.
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01. Walnut Hardwood Structural Window Jamb 02. Walnut Hardwood Window Head 03. Thermochromic Glazing Unit 04. 18mm x 18mm Brass Glazing bracing angle 05. 72mm x 72mm Brass Primary Corner Bracing 06. 10mm Dia, bolt fixing with neoprene washers 07. Walnut Hardwood Cill 08. Walnut Hardwood Structural Post forming door and window jamb
Exploded Axonometric of Window Elements 1:20 @ A3
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4.7 Construction Sequence
10. Walnut hardwood cladding addtitional drips and cementitious board fitted. Along with door. Glazing installed with beads, seals and corner trim.
5. Insulation, Ply sheating and vapour barrier and breather membrane attached.
4. Softwood timber stud work constructed and bolted to plinth with resin anchor bolts.
9. Copper roof installed with accompaning flashings.
3. Engineered structural timber goalpost inserted into existing wall.
8. Tapered roof insulation glued into position and fixed with tand and seam clips.
2. Brick plinth laid with cavity insulation.
7. Insulated timber cassette constructed and fitted to Walnut structural posts fixed up to engineered timber beam in opening.
1. Footings dug down, hardcore and blinding applied to internal area. Slab insulation fitted with polythene membrane, shuttering for edge of slab installed. Concrete footing and slab poured as one component.
6. Walnut Hardwood timber window frame constructed.
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5. Critique
Overall, the proposal has been successful in acheiving some of the goals set out at the start. The final proposal creates a window that can be inhabited in various ways, where the window becomes a peice of furniture.
Though not a particularly volatile climate the introduction of sustainable passive design strategies could prove effective in this location. However there could be an improved approach to refine the sunlighting elements of the design. Possibly through the introduction of a controllable brise soleil to provide a different intesity of sunlight in summer months. This would be additonal and more effective than the planter.
From a cost perspective, most of the desicions are rational. In regards to the venting panels this could be adjusted to a single unit that would require a more simple design approach. This may also be more in keeping with the monolithic appearance of the walnut structure. This process may include a new approach to a more refined ventilation strategy.
We have selected a high performing yet aesthetically pleasing material which provide a suitable solution to the early conceptual studies and ideas. As the proposal has grown it has developed into more than a simple window where we have been able to investigate more structural components than initially anticipated.
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