Wall House

Taiwan Province, Taiwan

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Wall House

Taiwan Province, Taiwan

Firm

Type

Residential › Private House

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2018

SIZE

0 sqft - 1000 sqft

BUDGET

Undisclosed

Urban Context

Taiwan is limited in land area, hemmed in by mountains and seas. The city of Toufen in Miaoli County is near a fishing harbor, swept by salty sea winds. The climate is damp with cold winters. The site faces west, next to a 20m-wide road. Across the road is a large open field, exposing the building to the heat of the sun during the afternoons. The site is low-lying, with flooding possible in the rainy season.
Sun exposure, humidity, and flooding therefore became the most prominent issues during the design process.
Situated within the island landscape of Taiwan, Wall House employed a vertical construction strategy in response to the limited floor space of the site, as well as double envelope walls to create a layer of air in response to the hot and humid outside world.

Physical Sensations

The solid and heavy concrete box form defends against the intense heat of the afternoon sun. As the sunlight from the west creates sharp contrasts of light and shadow, the building remains anchored to the land like a sculpture.
The outer wall features a porous surface that filters out light. Sunlight from the west is guided into the space through openings of various sizes, allowing these fragments of light to illuminate the interior.
The west side of the building is bound by double walls with a thick layer of air in between. The air layer keeps out the sun’s heat coming from the west, and the light let in by the porous outer wall flows with the air across the space.
Openings were created in the floors to create a naturally lit courtyard, where the sunlight makes its mark on the solid concrete. The light falls on a space reserved for plantings, so that the family’s trees can also thrive!

Row House, the Inhabitancy Space,a collection of events

The lighting and ventilation is always the leading concern for typical row houses. Making the most of the deployment of circulation and building openings provides the extended row house sufficient light and enables the breeze flows in interior space. Wall House has the conceptually circulation in concept and enables human behavior, light and shade, and breeze float along with time in the extended row house.
We attempt to construct the form of a kind of architectural envelope, become the shelter that the human lives, with response disorderly and diversified culture in Taiwan.