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No Footprint House (NFH)
By : A-01 (A Company / A Foundation)
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 14th edition
Discipline : Architecture
Categories : Special Award / Architecture + Climate Change : Gold Certification
Categories : Residential Building / Cottage & Country House : Gold Certification
Categories : Residential Building / Single-Family Home : Gold Certification
Categories : Residential Building / Prefab Home : Platinum Winner
The No Footprint House (NFH) is located in Ojochal, a small village at the edge of the vast tropical rain forests along the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The building responds to its surrounding habitat by passive climate control through natural ventilation and solar shading. The NFH is organized around a central service core, which includes all machinery and intelligence, as well as the bathrooms, kitchen and laundry area. The compression of utilities in one compact unit enables an open floor plan all around the core, which contributes to the building efficiency in terms of assembly, maintenance and use. Slanted facades decrease the direct impact of sunlight and precipitation. Individual panels can be opened or closed in order to regulate views and exposure, augment or reduce air flows, create privacy and security. They convert interior to exterior spaces and play with the dynamic among nature and the built environment, one of the key features in tropical architecture. The modular prefabricated home is developed as a prototype for serial production, based on a systemic catalogue for sustainable residential typologies. A wide range of affordable, customizable and replicable solutions is catering for a broad customer segment. The NFH is designed to minimize the impact of construction and merge with its natural surroundings, seeking integral sustainability in terms of its environmental, economic, social and spatial performance.
Collaboration
Engineering : Ingeniería Cañas
Engineering : Consost
General Contractor : SLO Studio Local
Photographer : Fernando Alda
