UNStudio designs The W.I.N.D. House

UNStudio designs The W.I.N.D. House

Feb 3, 2015  | Architecture 

UNStudio designs The W.I.N.D. House
(Photo by: UNStudio)

‘Super Living’ and the expansion of the smart home

The ‘homes of the future’, previously the stuff of fantasy exhibited only in World's Fairs and science fiction, are increasingly becoming a reality. Automation and connectivity are making it possible for today’s smart homes to integrate information technologies through which systems and appliances are able to communicate in an integrated way, resulting in vastly increased convenience, energy efficiency, safety and security.

Ben van Berkel: “The contemporary smart home not only enables the control of appliances from afar and incorporates the necessary installations and materials to aim for a zero net energy building, it also responds to changes in today’s lifestyles.”

As such, flexible floor plans are incorporated which allow for diversity in function in order to correspond to the family’s changing needs and thus offer

choice for gathering, seclusion, work or play. The organisation of the contemporary home therefore enables the residents to curate their own home life, both now and in the future.

Ben van Berkel: “A challenge for the architect in the design of today’s single family home is a response that accurately reflects the degrees of flexibility, sustainability and automation required by the residents and the incorporation of these into the overall concept of the design.”

The W.I.N.D. House in the province of North-Holland incorporates both integrated sustainable solutions and home automation, whilst flexibility of spaces, the comprehensive assimilation of the surrounding landscape and a centrifugal circulation form the basis of the design.

Located on the outskirts of a Dutch village and close to the sea, the house is backed by a wooded area and fronted by an open expanse of polder landscape. The design of the house responds to both its setting and to the seasons. The more intimate working and sleeping areas are located towards the back, where the enclosure of the woods provides an intimate setting, while the living areas enjoy panoramic views of the polder landscape to the front.

The elevated position of the open plan living areas enhances the views to the exterior. Each of the four facades, curve towards the inside to create four distinct petal-like wings. These curving recesses are visually connected to each other through their view lines, which cross at the heart of the building. The vertical organisation of the building follows a centrifugal split-level principle. An open staircase at the centre of the house connects the front and back wings.

A comprehensive home automation system enables integrated control of the electrical systems including solar panels and mechanical installations. Complete control of this ‘smart home’ is possible by a central touch-screen in the living area, while decentral devices provide dedicated control per room. Furthermore control is possible remotely by independent devices via LAN-connection.

The integrated sustainability concept of the house includes a central air/water heat pump, mechanical ventilation with waste heat recovery and solar panels. Heat gain is reduced through the use of tinted glass on the fully glazed front and back facades.

Via UNStudio
Image,video ©: UNStudio