THE WALL

HOUSE

INTRODUCTION
PROJECTS NAME :- WALL HOUSE
ARCHITECT :- ANUPAMA KUNDOO
ZONE :- HOT AND HUMID
LOCATION : AUROVILLE ,TAMIL NADU
CORDINATES :- 12025N 794838E
POPULATION :- 2,305.

CLIMATE : TEMPERATURE

MAXIMUM- 40C (105.0 F)

MINIMUM- 20 C (68 F).

ANNUAL RAINFALL

AVERAGE IS 1,200 MM (47 IN)

MAINLY FROM THE SW MONSOON (JUNE TO SEPT.)
AND NE MONSOON (NOV TO DEC) WITH A DRY
PERIOD OF APPROX 6 MONTHS.

CLIMATIC
CONSIDERATIONS
In hot and humid climate region high temperature are accompanied by high humidity level
leading to immense discomfort. Cross ventilation is hence very essential here. Adequate
shading measures are also necessary to protect the building from direct solar radiations.
4.

spaces for unrestricted air movement.

THE MAIN DESIGN OBJECTIVE SHOULLD BE1.

2.

3.

Resisting heat

Building should be spread out with large open

5.

Heat and moisture producing areas like toilet

1.

Decreasing area of the building expose to the outside.

And kitchen must be ventilated and seprated

2.

Using materials that take a longer time to heat up.

from the rest of the structure.

3.

The forms of roof and wall should be planned

4.

Providing buffer spaces between the outside and inside. 6.

Increasing shading of the building in general.

5.

Using materials that reflect heat.

Promoting heat loss

1.

Appliances used are well ventilated.

2.

Proper ventilation occur through the day.

3.

Humidity level are reduce as much as possible.

Water bodies are not essential.

to promote air flow.

7.

Cross ventilation is at most important.

8.

The wall should be painted with light petals

shades and white wash.

WALL HOUSES
The key concept of the house is as
extending right into the landscape,with no
physical boundaries.
The wall house is a line drawn in nature.
Entrance is dramatic, double height,
soaring vaulted space.
A narrow linear block to one side of entrance
contains all the private spaces.
First floor has same linear forms, to
accommodate bedroom, dressing room and
terrace with magical open tosky bathroom
Its narrow dimension are accented by a light,
airy extension, framed in glass and metal
that accommodate the bed.
Says Anupama, The design of the house
ensures that the private activities are
cocooned into secluded secure spaces,
while the public living areas are large and
open to nature.

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

FIRST FLOOR PLAN

EXPERIMENTS
The search was two-fold:
the first being the exploration
of technologies of low impact,
but pucca structures that are
healthy, climatically
comfortable, structures that can
form the basis of an aesthtically
pleasing building language.

The second, eco-friendly

infrastructure to take care of the
running needs of the settlement in
terms of water, waste and energy
management through renewable
sourcesas well as passive

PLAN
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

ENTRANCE
SIT OUT
LIVING
KITCHEN
STORE

6. GUEST ROOM
7. TOILET
8. STUDIO
9. BEDROOM
10.STUDY AREA

GROUND FLOOR LAN

16. OPEN TO SKY

11. WALK IN WARDROBE
TERRACE
12. TOILET
13. OPEN TO SKY TERRACE 17. POOL
14. MEDITATION SPACE
15. PRIVATE LVING

FIRST FLOOR PLAN

CLIMATE
RESPONSIVE

The plan of the house, with its narrow

spaces, responds to the hot and humid
climate, as it allows maximum crossventilation.

Aligned along a south-east north-west

axis, the house has small openings in
front and large openings at the rear to
create effective air channels, which
optimize ventilation.

The double height volume enhances

the air stack movement, and increases
the upward drafts of the ventilation.

The hot air rising inside the covered

spaces is forced out through openings
in the vault, and as the roofs are also
designed to be insulating, heat
radiation is minimized.

CONSTRUCTION
SYSTEM
The exposed brick facades by using local achakal bricks of the same 18 cm x 10 cm x 2.5
cm are used.
The bricks are set with raked joints in lime mortar, to which 10% cement has been added for
initial setting strength.
The thickness of the walls varies between 30, 20 and 10 cm, with specially designed bonds,
as they do not follow the usual 1:2 proportions.
The foundations are of cement-stabilized rammed earth the earth having been procured
from the same foundation pits.
Architect has also experimented with different roofing systems. Catenary vaults of hollow
clay tubes have been used for climatic insulation, which also eliminates the need for
structural steel that one sees in roofs today.
There are vaults in the ground floor where achakal bricks are used as structural supports.
The flat terraced roof over the guest room has been built by using hollow burnt clay
trapezoidal extruded modules over partly precast beams, as in the jack arch these
modules were specially manufactured locally for the purpose of finding insulated roofing
solutions to flat roofs.
For the intermediate floor, terracotta pots are used as fillers to increase the effective depth
of concrete, while minimizing the volume of concrete and steel in the slabs that did require
to be insulated. One of our aims was to demonstrate that structural materials can also be
used as finishing materials.

SPACES
It is a simple house, with clearly defined lines and
masses
play in volumes makes it hard to distinguish where
the inside ends and the outside begins. Long steps,
which continue from the inside onto the garden
outside on both sides, create a further demarcation of
spaces.
A dramatic soaring vaulted space, more than two
storeys high, marks the entry point. This is a
transition space, extending into the landscape, a
living space with no physical boundaries.
To the right, a narrow linear, concrete block in
exposed brick, runs from north to south.
Just 2.2 m wide inside, this block contains all the
private space in the house.
A free-standing zigzag flight of polished,
greenpainted, concrete stairs leads to the first floor,
the same linear form embraces a study, a bedroom, a
dressing room and an external terrace with a magical
open-to-sky bathroom at first floor. It is almost like a
corridor; indeed so narrow that to accommodate the
bed and the dining space, a light glass and metal
framed extension is plugged into the external wall to
the east of the brick tube.

LIGHT
The bedroom, with glass louvers on three sides, completely opens out
under the canopy of an old tree,
The private side of the wall (to the west) opens out into a 4-m-wide
double-height veranda, which is protected by thin steel mesh on a
wooden structure.
Thus this area is full of natural, glare-free light, and allows one to enjoy
the sunsets from here.
The house is planned in such a way that the inside and out side spaces
integrates, as a result of which it minimizes the use of artificial light.
The house runs entirely on solar energy through solar photovoltaics
that take care of all electrical demands.

VERNACULAR POINTS
Everything in the house is natural and appropriate,
from the historic local achakal brick to the natural
stone used for the sills and lintels and the long steps
that lead to the garden. A green-painted concrete
stairway leads upstairs. The interiors need no
extraneous decoration the honesty of materials and
wealth of interesting forms tell their own story.
A serene sit-out, set in a garden that accentuates the
rugged beauty of natural stone.
The dining table, built of recycled wood: a single old
rosewood column, whose natural texture has been left
as is and it can be reassembled back to the form of
the original log.
Simple, clearly defined lines and masses are used to
form a play with volumes that blur the transition
between inside and outside. The soaring vaulted roof
of hollow clay tubes eliminates the need for structural
steel and provides effective insulation.
An unusual bathroom, with another experimental roof
form, and rough granite for a washbasin counter and
back to nature shower.
The living areas are open to the outdoors. Inserted
into the wall is a beam of recycled teak that serves as
a study table.

THANK YOU