认识工程师
作为一个设计师，这个项目是一个难得的机会，客户自己能够在设计过程中做出贡献，以达到协同效应的水平，这对于建筑师和客户这两个个体来说是不可想象的。工程师之家 “是这样一个案例：客户是一位杰出的机械工程师，是制造非常高端的钻石加工相关机器的全球领导者，他向建筑师提供了他所有的知识和基础设施。在第一次会议上，我们就达成了一个愿景，即通过有意义的工程解决方案，创造一个突破建筑设计极限的房子。传统的闭门器、吊扇、秋千、电梯、地热制冷、百叶窗和许多其他元素都受到了质疑，其结果确实值得一提。然而，对我们来说，这个项目的成功在于，这些巨大的产品设计和开发工作都没有妨碍我们为一个同样美好的四口之家创造如此美妙的生活空间。事实上，这些工程奇迹中的每一个，都增强了每个家庭成员拥有美好家庭和个人时间的整体体验。整个房子也是一个旅程，在真正意义上做一切正确和可持续的事情。
MEET THE ENGINEER
As a designer, this project was one such rare opportunity, where the client himself is able to contribute in the design process to reach levels of synergy which is unthinkable for both as individuals – the Architect and the Client. ‘The Engineer’s House’ is a case where the Client, a brilliant mechanical engineer and a global leader in manufacturing of very high end diamond process related machines, offered all his knowledge and infrastructure to the Architect’s disposal. In the first meeting itself, we agreed to a vision of creating a house which pushes the limit of architectural design, through meaningful engineering resolutions to issues. The conventional paradigms of door closer, ceiling fan, swing, elevator, geothermal cooling, louvers and lot of other elements were questioned and the outcome is truly noteworthy. However, for us, the success of the project, lies in the fact, that none of these mammoth product design and development exercises, came in the way of creating such wonderful living spaces for an equally wonderful family consisting of four persons. In fact, each of these engineering marvels, enhanced the overall experience of having a great family and personal time for each family member. The entire house is also a journey to do everything that is right and sustainable in true sense.
空间结构
这块1400平方码的地块是苏拉特新开发地区的一个封闭式门控社会的一部分。这是一个转角地块，位于社会公共花园空间的正对面，南面和东面都有道路。从空间上看，这栋四间卧室的别墅是围绕着两个开放空间组织的–公共草坪和私人庭院。公共区由一个单一的玻璃盒子组成，里面有客厅、用餐区、厨房和电梯，可以把人送到一楼的家庭房间。它的两侧有一个长长的阳台空间，以便于流通和气候的舒适。一个略微倾斜的铜盒漂浮在用餐区上方，里面是家庭房间。在公共区域之外，人们爬上几级台阶，进入私人领域，这里有四间卧室，围绕着一个庭院。祈祷空间是循环隧道的顶点，它沿着公共街区，然后穿过私人区域。
THE SPATIAL STRUCTURE
The 1400 square yard plot is part of a closed gated society in the newly developed areas of Surat. It’s a corner plot, located right across the common garden space of the society, with roads on the South and the East. Spatially, the four bed room villa, is organised around two open spaces – the public lawns and the private courtyard. The public block consists a singular glass box housing the living room, dining area, the kitchen and the elevator transporting one to the first floor family room. It is flanked by a long verandah spaces on both the sides, for allowing circulation and climatic comfort. A slightly inclined copper box floats over the dining area, which houses the family room. Beyond the public block, one climbs few steps to get into the private realm, which has the four bedrooms built around a courtyard. The praying space is the culmination of the circulation tunnel which runs along the public block and then through the private zone.
物理结构
工程师应该设计一个建筑师会羞于掩饰的结构”。- 比尔-贝克，合伙人-SOM
在材料方面，房子采用了自然的调色板，远离任何合成材料。房子的外壳没有油漆，是用成品混凝土建造的。有趣的纹理是通过用皱巴巴的铝箔制作纤维模具来实现的，在白天和晚上都能创造出同样美丽的戏剧性，对从不同方向落在上面的光线做出反应。 地板是由大尺寸的抛光和皮革处理的Kotah石组合而成。其余都是天然的阳极氧化铝、玻璃、黑色花岗岩和柚木。铜板被用来定义轴向运动通道和浮动的家庭房间。在一些门上使用了鲜艳的紧凑型层压板，为原本单调的灰银色房子增添了鲜明的亮点。
THE PHYSICAL STRUCTURE
‘An Engineer should design a structure that an architect would be ashamed to cover up’. – Bill Baker, Partner – SOM
In terms of materiality, the house is wedded to a palette which is natural and far away from anything synthetic. The paint free shell of the house is constructed in form finished concrete. The interesting texture has been achieved through creating fiber moulds out of crumpled aluminum foils, and creates equally beautiful drama in the day and night, responding to the light falling on to it from different directions. The floor is a combination of large sized polished and leather finished Kotah Stone. Rest is all natural anodised aluminum, glass, black granite and teak wood. Copper sheets have been used to define the axial movement tunnel and the floating family room. Bright colored compact laminate sheet have been used in some doors to add sharp accents in an otherwise a monotone grey-silver house.
内部、外部和两者之间的关系–百叶窗
苏拉特的场地距离阿拉伯海仅10公里，气候炎热潮湿。作为对这一点的回应，包括四间卧室在内的每个空间的北部和南部都有本土设计的可操作的百叶系统，从墙到墙都有一层可打开的玻璃。这使得与景观的联系更加紧密，并且有源源不断的微风在房间里流动。人们实际上感觉一直生活在 “奥塔 “上。这些百叶窗控制着进入空间的光线、风、雨和灰尘的数量；同时也将窃贼一直挡在外面。这个想法在生活区又进一步，整个百叶窗框架被手动抬起，成为凉棚，让人联想到鸟儿张开翅膀。使用一些齿轮和杠杆，设计了非常有趣的用户友好机制来提升和锁定百叶窗。
THE INSIDE, THE OUTSIDE AND THE IN-BETWEEN – THE LOUVERS
The site at Surat is just about 10 km from the Arabian Sea, and experiences a Hot and Humid climate. As a response to that, the North and South of each space including the four bedrooms has indigenously designed operable louvers system with an openable layer of glass, from wall to wall. This allows a wonderful connection with the landscape, and an incessant draft of breeze flowing across the rooms. One practically feels living on the ‘Otta’ all the time. These louvers control amount of light, wind, rain, and dust entering the space; and also keeping the burglars out all the time. The idea has been taken one step further in the living block, where the entire louvre frames get manually lifted to become pergola, reminiscent of a bird opening up its wings. Very interesting user-friendly mechanisms for lifting and locking the louvers have been engineered using number of gears and levers.
利用日光
在所有空间的北面和南面的百叶墙使所有这些可居住的空间全天都有自然光。此外，在生活空间和运动通道中也有一些天窗，以带来更多的日光。浴室里有各种类型的天窗，与纹理混凝土墙面相结合，创造出令人着迷的用户体验。并网的屋顶太阳能光伏电池板产生了近8千瓦的电力，这几乎照顾到了房子的全部电力需求。
EXPLOITING THE DAYLIGHT
The louvered walls on the north and south of all the spaces enable natural daylight in all these habitable spaces throughout the day. Further to this, there are number of skylights in the living space and the movement tunnel to bring in more daylight. The bathrooms have interesting endeavors in various types of skylights, which combine with the textured concrete walls creating mesmerizing user experience. The grid connected rooftop solar photovoltaic cell panels generate almost 8 KW of electricity, which nearly takes care of almost the total power needs of the house.
通往天堂的电梯
客厅里有一个看起来非常有趣的方形木质平台，躺在地板上，上面有一个自行车座位和安装在支架上的划桨。你没猜错，它是一部电梯，每次可以带大约三个人到上层的家庭房间，由一个人划动来实现。 这是一个非常复杂的工程，考虑到了人类安全的各个方面，并对自行车进行了电动控制，以呼叫电梯。这可能是世界上最绿色的人类运输电梯。
THE ELEVATOR TO HEAVEN
The living room has a very interesting looking square wooden platform lying on the floor with a bicycle seat and paddles mounted on a stand. You guessed it right; its an elevator which can take about three people at a time to the upper level family room, with one person paddling to make this happen. This is a very complex piece of engineering considering the various aspects of human safety and with a electrical override to the bicycle, to call the elevator. This is possibly, the greenest elevator for human transport in the world.
有光
对于卧室和客厅的一般照明，设计了一个非常简单而有趣的灯具，计算了各种角度以减少眩光，并使空间的光线最大化。用餐区有另一个有趣的灯具设计，使用随机悬挂的管子和窄束LED光源。
LET THERE BE LIGHT
For the general lighting of the bedrooms and the living room, a very simple yet interesting luminaries has been designed, calculating the various angles to minimise glare, and maximise the light in the spaces. The dining area has another interesting luminaries designed using randomly suspended tubes with narrow beam LED light source.
进化的马哈拉杰风扇
当你进入任何一间卧室时，你会惊讶地看到大块的皮革垂直悬挂在床头，上面固定着一个看起来很复杂的金属组件。这是一个现代版本的大雄宝殿风扇，传统上是在没有电的好日子里发现的，也就是我们今天看到的吊扇。其衍生品是，这个组件可以帮助你控制皮面的摆动速度，从而控制用户在房间里需要的微风量。
THE EVOLVED MAHARAJA FAN
As you enter any bedroom, you will be surprised to see large piece of leather hanging vertically right over the bed with a complex looking metal assembly fixed to it. This is a modern version of the Maharaja fan traditionally found in the good old days when there was no electricity and the ceiling fans that we see today. The spinoff is that the assembly helps you control the speed of the oscillations of the leather plane, thereby controlling the amount of breeze the user needs in the room.
对家具设计的做法
在项目中设计的大多数家具中，我们总是努力挑战工程的极限，以提出能够大大增加人类舒适度的解决方案。其中一个例子是客厅里巨大的混凝土咖啡桌。这张咖啡桌看起来很大，但却是由非常薄的水泥铁皮制成的，并且有隐藏的脚轮；一个小孩子可以不费吹灰之力就能移动这套家具。另一件有趣的家具是躺在房子的公共区域的阳台上的小长椅。这条长凳是用独立的木片构成的，用拉紧的金属绳索捆绑在一起。因此，当一个人坐在长椅上时，木片会被移位以适应坐在上面的人的轮廓。同样，祈祷空间有一个有趣的铜盒，它照顾到了用户所有复杂的功能和存储需求，使祈祷后的空间绝对整洁。床和衣柜展示了一些非常有趣的实木细工和连接细节。巨大的车库门（12米×2.4米）是用铝板建造的，但操作起来非常容易。
APPROACH TOWARDS THE FURNITURE DESIGN
In most of the pieces of furniture that were designed in the project, the effort was always to challenge the limits of engineering to come up with solutions which add significantly to the human comforts. One such example is the huge concrete coffee table in the living room. The coffee table looks massive, but is constructed out of very thin Ferro-cement and with hidden castors; a small child can move the furniture piece with no significant effort. Another interesting piece of furniture is a small bench lying in the verandah along the public block of the house. The bench is constructed using independent pieces of wood tied together using tensioned metal rope. As a result, when one sits on the bench, the wooden pieces get displaced to accommodate the contours of the person sitting on it. Similarly the praying space has an interesting copper box, which takes care of all the complex functional and storage needs of the user, leaving the space absolutely neat after the prayer. The beds and the wardrobes exhibit some very interesting joinery and junction details in solid wood. The huge garage gate (12m x 2.4 m) is constructed in aluminum sheets, but extremely easy to operate.
生长中的绿地
两个院子–公共的和私人的–有不同的景观方法，作为对使用情况的回应。公共庭院主要是一个草坪区，有一些小丘，与非常直线的建筑形式形成一些柔和的对比。私人庭院里有一棵树，一旦树长到较大的尺寸，地板图案就会反映出树枝的阴影。后院主要是一个厨房花园。收集和堆肥有机废物以创造自己的粪便，这种简单实用的系统对项目中绿色植物的生长有很大帮助。
THE GROWING GREENS
The two courtyards – public and private have diverse landscape approaches as a response to the usage. The public courtyard is primarily a lawn area with some mounds to create some soft contrast to the very straight line building form. The private courtyard has a tree with the flooring pattern reflecting the shadow of the branches of the tree once the tree grows to a larger size. The backyard is primarily a kitchen garden. The simple practical system of collecting and composting organic waste to create own manure has been significantly helping the growth of the greens in the project.
少即是多
在为房子设计的大部分产品和家具中，都延续了创造家具作品的理念，使之成为不断发展的、精心设计的产品。为儿子的房间设计的学习桌，在不使用时可以直接关闭，使空间变得整洁和简约，这是为获得正确的结果而进行的多次尝试。抬高的铜箱容纳了房子的一个非常重要的部分；家庭室。这个由 “自行车电梯 “到达的地方只使用了一种基本材料–柚木；无论是储藏室、墙壁和天花板衬里、非正式的座位还是储藏室。这个舒适而温暖的房间恰好是家庭中使用率最高、最值得珍惜的空间!
LESS IS MORE
The idea of creating pieces of furniture as evolved, and well engineered products continues in most of the products and furniture pieces designed for the house. A study table for son’s room which can be just closed when not in use to make the space neat and minimal is a result of a number of attempts to get it right. The elevated copper box houses a very important part of the house; the Family Room. This place reached by the ‘bicycle-elevator’ is created using just one basic material – Teak Wood; be it storage, wall and ceiling lining, the informal seating or the storages. This cozy and warm room happens to be the most utilized and cherished space for the family!
Architects: ESSTEAM
Area: 7500 ft²
Year: 2017
Photographs: Ishita Sitwala | The Fishy Project
Manufacturers: Louis Poulsen, BTicino, Carrier, Cassina, Duravit, Kohler, Ponzio, FCU, Jindal, Quadra, Split ACs
Lead Architect: Snehal Shah, Nishith Jariwala
Carpentry Contractor: Sohanlal
Engineering: Lexus Softmac, Janak Mistry
Civil Contractor: Shah construction, Chirag Shah
Landscape Consultant: Earthscapes
Horticulturist: Palash Associates, Karmaveer Bhatt
Plumbing Contractor: Mujavar
Structure Designer: SMV Consultants
Electrical Contractor: Crony Electricals
Electrical Consultant: Crony Electricals
Engineering & Fabrication:Janak Mistry ( Lexus Softmac)
Electrical Consultant & Contractor:Crony Electricals
Stone Works:Prakash Chauhan
Fabrication:Janak Mistry, Lexus Softmac
City:Surat
Country:India