TAS 63 House / OTONOM

closed

Common materials were used in a familiar yet playful manner. Laser-cut steel plates were used as the front gate material and extensive parts of the canopy. Perforated metal sheets were used as railing and hanging storage, providing a degree of privacy and breathability for the outdoor miscellany. Bare concrete beams, attached to the existing columns, supported a stack of concrete breeze blocks including a network of thin steel bars as its structural reinforcement. Andesite tiles were used as the only floor material, a material that would not require constant maintenance as the floor was partially exposed to rain.Once the ornamental façade elements were stripped out, we were left with the house's bare structural forms. These were the key points to start the project as they gave us the ability to thoroughly ‘read’ the site, from which a series of bold gestures emerged. A porous concrete screen, made of a thousand 18x18cm concrete breeze blocks, created a new passively-cooled enclosed space in the front part of the house. A canopy and its detached-oversized column liberated the carport space from the structural clutter that was used to limit the parking maneuvers due to the carport's limited width. A floating bench connected the two existing columns and hung the perforated storage space underneath to organize the outdoor miscellany. The front gate opening details were carefully crafted for hands to ergonomically operate the gate. The railing details were integrated for trailing plants to pass through. A gesture to fully utilize the house balcony through creating a new access connection from the bedroom and demolishing a portion of the balcony that was spatially ineffective.Text description provided by the architects.The project was initiated as a small refurbishment project to a thirteen-year-old house's front yard, façade, and carport that was not carefully built and planned. Some of the most fundamental issues revolved around the carport structural failures that resulted in a tilted carport canopy and columns, the façade deteriorating finishes, unorganized cabling that was developed over the years, and a relatively undefined front yard. Within this limited brief and project area, we saw an opportunity to conduct an extensive series of responses towards the existing: to strip out the meaningless ornamental façade elements, to reinforce the existing structure, and to redefine the new architectural gestures of the house that contrast the preexisting banal developer façade aesthetic.