: COLLETT’S CORNER
The concept design is for Collett’s Corner, a prominent site in downtown Lyttelton, New Zealand. The building will house hot bathing pools, co-working space, restaurant, shop, quirky hotel, cinema and event space and bar.1
Entitled ‘Challenge : Everything,’ the 4WALLS submission challenged: “The ever-changing and dynamic nature of the local community is at the core of this proposal. The proposed submission centres around a free-standing scaffold like structure, with no intrinsic cladding, roof or floors. The intention is to provide a simple serviced framework that can be easily altered according to the requirements of the time, one that reflects the crane and container nature of Lyttelton as a port town. Permanent gantries could be included in order to make the change easier.”
: SNUG PROJECT
The concept design is for Prefab NZ’s Design Competition : ‘SNUG : A Home in My Backyard.’1 Entered as submission U6J9-SNUG, the 4WALLS submission stated “This is a fundamentally new approach … Nothing needs to be rewritten as such, yet everything changes.”
Our entry centred around the concept of the Vierendeel Truss, in which members are not triangulated but form rectangular openings. Named after Belgian engineer Arthur Vierendeel, who developed the concept in 1896.
Under the headings innovation, practicality and functionality, the submission proposed the use of the commercial curtain-walling technique, adapted for use in a residential environment. This would allow for future alteration through the swapping of panels and glazing as required.
: AFFORDABLE HOUSING
This is where we started, our intent being to get the price down and the quality up. Working with Health Based Building1 to ensure both a moisture-free and toxin-free living environment, we started from the ground up, concentrating on :
- Increased levels of natural light.
- Improved flow of fresh air and warmth throughout.
- Accessibility.
Focused around pre-fabrication, our core concepts are :
- Commercial methods
- Foreverbreathe™ materials
- Ease of location, relocation and
re-levelling as required. - Ease of expansion, adaption or alteration as living requirements change.
- Improved fenestration.
- The ability to go up as well as out.
- Prefabrication based on assembly rather than manufacture.
: HIGH PERFORMANCE WINDOWS
This came out of our efforts with affordable housing, to be developed as a stand-alone project. Working with EPL and Metro Performance Glass, our goals were to :
- Improve insulation
- Reduce noise
- Reassess its structural implications.
The final point is based around the fact that glass weights 2.55 kg / mm / m2. To put that in terms we can understand, a square metre of 4 mm thick glass weighs 10.2 kg. A typical glass sliding door of 2 x 2.4 metres therefore weighs around 50 kg’s – and that’s relatively small by todays standards.
: HIGH PERFORMANCE WINDOWS
This came out of our efforts with affordable housing, to be developed as a stand-alone project. Working with EPL and Metro Performance Glass, our goals were to :
- Improve insulation
- Reduce noise
- Reassess its structural implications.
The final point is based around the fact that glass weights 2.55 kg / mm / m2. To put that in terms we can understand, a square metre of 4 mm thick glass weighs 10.2 kg. A typical glass sliding door of 2 x 2.4 metres therefore weighs around 50 kg’s – and that’s relatively small by todays standards.
: CAVITY-SLIDER DOOR HANDLES
A response to the lack of appropriate door handles for those with disabilities, also came out of our efforts in affordable housing. In consultation with Lifemark™1 with whom we had been designing our layouts, we reassessed the requirements and started again. We rearranged the mechanism, increased the dimensions and simplified the movement required. This one is a work in progress however, so we don’t have any pictures to show you – yet.
: GLASS BALUSTRADES
This came across our path, and we rather liked it – minimalism at its best. But like the door handles, a work in progress …
: HIGH-TECH HOME OFFICE
This is a variation on our affordable housing principles, one that was in the process before the implications of the pandemic. We’ve written a series of blogs around this issue : INSPIRE
