Aséria Homes & Townhouses

Historically, Maldivians have built homes to co-exist within the natural elements of our tropical archipelago environment.

Traditional and indigenous building methods of the islands have depended on vernacular solutions to home making, where the distinction between the built and the natural environment is almost invisible. The conditions that allowed for such independent and individualistic home design practices have diminished drastically over the years, creating compartmentalized modern day housing constructs that separate its inhabitants from the surrounding natural environments.

Location

Aseria homes are located in Hulhumale’ Phase 2, at the northeast edge of the island towards the shores of the Indian Ocean. The area of land allocated to the development is 19,746.88 square metres.

A man-made saltwater canal lies to the north of the development, to act as a separator between a planned resort development and the residential area of Hulhumale’ Phase 2

Concept

The proposed home typologies or Dwellings - themed Beachfront, Garden, and Urban - are conceptualized as nodes of shelter with access to the vast Indian Ocean panorama, its monsoonal winds and year round sunlight.

One of Aséria’s major home design incorporations is the introduction of a private inner courtyard – The Elevated Gardens at the centre space of the homing compound. The Aséria home provides the home seeker a private dwelling space with an option to extend into a communal expanse; a home within a green reservoir of cross-ventilation of airflow and daylight connecting its interior and exterior living spaces

The proposed design’s structural skeleton provides room for flexibility through several spatial configuration options to suit individual homeowner preferences. The design provides strategic positioning of skylights and windows that can be customised and adapted based on the homeowner's desire to interact with the surrounding external elements from the sheltered internal space of a private abode.

Design Intent

The design process of Aséria homes involved the exploration of the impact of weather on homing methods in the Maldivian tropical climatic context through stages of data analysis with the intention of reaching the most efficient design decisions.

A studied feedback loop for optimization was introduced where the building form was generated and analysed for various climatic factors such as solar incident radiation, shadow cover and wind. The final designs presented for the proposed construction is a result of a carefully considered process of exploration and calculated re-orientation of the buildings to deliver maximized efficiency and performance to the overall design.

Exploring Form & Defining Building Parameters

At a macro scale the influence and relationship of 73 housing units as a collective has been analysed using weather data available for the period of one year. Key factors considered for design optimisation include orientation of the building, height and the form of the building.

At a meso scale, the building form is analysed for solar shading and allowance of wind to circulate from one side to the other (cross-ventilation). The roof pitching has been varied in terms of shading for adjacent buildings and extended to provide shade for the windows. Distinct roof strategies have been developed for the north-south oriented homes. Building widths have been progressively reduced and alternative modules raised to allow daylight into the deep spaces of the interior while ensuring access to ocean views from the same points.

At a micro scale, the elements of the building such as windows and skylights are strategically placed to control the solar radiation that penetrates into the building and to maximise the air flow into the interior spaces.

Shadow cover and direct sunlight are analysed at the summer solstice (June 21st), winter solstice (December 22nd), and equinox (September 23rd).