future urban life

ful house is a critique and metamorphosis of the Victorian-Edwardian terraced house. The structurally efficient but spatially and programmatically restrictive Victorian housing system is trans-formed into a flexible, climate-responsive social habitat for future urban life.

The primary motives of the ful house are:

1 to break or morph the spatial boundaries of the 5m wide Vic. terraced house of box-like rooms; to create a new building form that allows for 7.5m wide living zones, spatial variation and flow

2 to arrange the house programmatically into a series of zones that allow a private (family-owners) zone to be separable from semi-public (other house occupants, work) and public (circulation) zones with possible overlaps according to occupants desires

3 to bring variety, choice and freedom to the terrace - alternating wide and narrow spaces in adjacent ful houses leads to plan variation; in the degree of spatial separation as well as structural/finish materials within each house can be chosen by owners

4 to bring exterior space and light deep into the house plan via a courtyard; a retractable translucent membrane over this courtyard creates a thermal lung/buffer zone, acting as a heat retainer in winter and cross-ventilation induced in summer, and a protected indoor/outdoor space useable year-round.

Similar to the Victorian terrace, the ful house consists of masonry party walls standing on concrete strip foundations. Double-width high-density concrete block party walls are curved and angled in plan and therefore have inherent stability against overturning. This allows the full 8.5m height of the wall to be cantilevered from ground level. The floor and flat roofs are all pre-stressed concrete beam and post, spanning between party walls, finished with a thin screed to level and impart weather tightness. All slab openings (around courtyard and stair) are framed by block work walls standing on strip foundations. The penthouse r...