A sustainable habitat to assemble

The Puzzle House project was the result of an invitation-only private competition organized by the Taller Maldonado Chair, where Architect Oliverio Najmias is Associate Professor of Studio Design 3 . The clients bought and unified two lagoon front plots in the Puentes neighborhood of Nordelta, and an innovative proposal that could fit the search of most of the potential buyers.

With this in mind, we proposed the Puzzle House, which allows the house to adapt to the changes of the family that inhabits it. Thus, a solution is proposed in which the service packages or furniture elements are interchangeable and replaceable, can vary their position, be enlarged, reduced or eliminated. These changes can be made both at the design stage and throughout the life of the house once it is built.

HOW DID WE UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM?

Our obligation is to make the world the best place it can be; and we do so by generating adaptive and resilient designs that care for the environment and improve the quality of life of the people who use them.

The Puzzle House proposes a design that moves away from conventional solutions, with a flexible, efficient and functional proposal. And, as we aim to have a real impact on the greatest number of people, we innovate by taking care that the proposals are understood and accepted by the general public, targeting the most vulnerable groups. early adopters but also the the early majority. Thus, we asked ourselves a series of questions according to the client’s expectations in order to be able to close the sale of the project as quickly as possible:

Is it possible to have a house on the given lot that is well oriented and at the same time has the best views, that the bedrooms are away from noisy areas, that the kitchen is in relation to the playroom, the living-dining room, the grill and the pool and that the studio and guests have the possibility of having independent access?

Yes: The Puzzle House! a sustainable model of living that can be made to measure.

RAISED GROUND FLOOR, MAXIMUM FLEXIBILITY

The natural terrain is at its highest point at +3.70, the ground floor is at +4.60. This results not only in having a position that dominates the environment but also, as we learned and tested in the projects FRN House and LMBRT House, allows all installations to be passed underneath in a quick, economical and simple way. Now this is not the only advantage, this solution makes it possible to modify the position of the different installations – or repair them – at a very low cost without the need to break them from the inside.

SUSTAINABILITY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY

The house features innovative solutions to improve energy efficiency.

A system of solar collectors for the sanitary systems and photovoltaic panels for light generation is proposed. The efficiency of the system is complemented by geothermal energy and a specific heat pump that reduces consumption by up to 45%.

In addition, the social area has a ponded roof to minimize cooling loads during the day and radiant cooling at night. Because it has greater thermal inertia than a traditional concrete roof, cracks and leaks are avoided. It is an interactive and passive cooling system to cope with solar heat irradiation, the concrete acts as thermal mass and absorbs the internal sensible and latent heat loads during the day, while the pond on the roof acts as a heat sink, and releases the heat from the water pond to the cool night.

The volume of the bedrooms has a green roof, which not only increases thermal insulation, reducing operating costs and pollution, but also, like the pond (which also has a variety of flora) increases the useful life of the roof, contributes to mitigating the heat island effect, helps reduce flooding and filters rainwater.

SPACIALITY

The apparently simple dwelling has a spatial complexity that is not obvious. It is accessed under a bridge that compresses the height to explode in a semi-covered hall of 3.50 m., a height that continues throughout the social area of the house.

STRUCTURE

A first glance could make one think that the structure was not considered, on the contrary, a careful study of it is what allows this sensation of absence of structure. It should be noted that the structure in general and in particular the solutions and pre-dimensioning of the cantilevers were validated with a structural engineer and considered in the cost estimate.