Beautiful on the inside
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Think Brick Australia Open Face Award
TFAD Pty Ltd
"Beautiful On The Inside"
The aim of this project is to present an affordable and environmentally sustainable dwelling that can be adapted to a variety of different sites and accommodation requirements. The project uses a total of 8140 bricks for a 4 bedroom dwelling on a 355sqm site.
The project takes the ubiquitous construction technique for mass produced new housing - brick veneer - and turns it inside out. In summer the lightweight insulated external skin allows heat to disperse while the masonry internal skin acts as a 'cool bank' for the interior. In winter the reverse is true. The design uses face brick on internal floors and walls to living areas, sited so as to get direct solar access in winter months while also providing a rich, textured and long lasting interior environment.
The planning arrangement consists of three basic modules - a kitchen + wet area + living module, a bedroom module and a second living + wet area module. The minimum arrangement would be a two module layout with additional modules stacked horizontally or vertically configured as single or multiple dwellings. The component common to each layout is a courtyard around which rooms are arranged. The orientation of the courtyard allows winter solar access with minimum side and rear setbacks on sites running both north-south and east -west. The staggered nature of the solid and void space allows dwellings of a similar plan to be sited in close proximity without losing solar access thereby improving urban density.
