Your site has a narrow frontage, but good depth. Designing a
residence on such a plot undoubtedly poses a host of problems. Particularly in
terms of circulation of natural lighting and ventilation.
Nevertheless,
it’s the kind of challenge any creative designer seeks. At the outset, imagine
what happens if the site is situated in a continuous building zone. Isn’t the
natural light and ventilation blocked out from either sides of the plot?
Apart
from the basic ventilation and lighting, the building also must have some
aesthetic character to it. So how does one go about achieving this?
It is easy to give up considering the constraints the site poses.But if one’s
intention is to achieve quality space rather than letting the built-up space
occupy the entire space, then some interesting solutions are possible.
Let
us go through a few important points to be considered in dealing with the
narrow sites:
Ø Leave
good frontage. Do not start the building right on the street.
Ø If
one is forced to start on the street line because of the space constraints,
provide car porch or entrance lobby immediately. This will act as a buffer zone
between the main building and the street in terms of privacy, noise and dust
pollution to a certain extent.
Ø Do not put up any structure above
the ground floor space close to the street. Leave it as a terrace or have a
sloped roof. This will help to maintain the scale of the building, especially
when the streets are narrow.
Ø Do not provide balconies close to the street. This will give a feeling of a street house. Exclusivity will be lost in
the process.
Ø Try to leave at least 3 ft. on one
side of the building. It will help not only to improve the lighting and
ventilation, but also provide better circulation and direct access to service
area at the back.
Ø Side open space also will help to
provide the service lines like sanitary, plumbing, rainwater harvesting and
cable properly.
Ø Instead of small OTS (open to sky)
areas, provide sufficient sizes of multiple courtyards.
Ø Multiple smaller courtyards provide an excellent natural ventilation system to keep the inner temperature reduced
considerably.
Ø
Multiple
smaller courtyards are ideal and flexible in terms of present culture and
lifestyle compared to a large single courtyard of olden days.
Ø
These
courtyards will act not only as an the extension of the adjacent rooms, but
also serve as a multi-purpose space.
Ø
Grilles
or concrete/stone/wood will help to make the courtyard secure.
Ø
Inner
courtyards bring lots of diffused light cutting down harsh sunlight. One can enjoy soft and even sunlight throughout the house.
Ø
Inner
smaller courtyards could help to avoid monotonous feeling of corridors that
link the various units of the house.
Ø
Create
volumetric link between ground and first floor. This will open up the tightness
and linearity of the internal space.
Ø
Many
air vents at the roof will help the hot air to escape, thus reducing the inner
temperature considerably.
Ø
Having covered terraces, opening towards the courtyards will make the house look
spacious and open. Covered open terraces are also excellent multi-purpose
areas.
Ø
Combination
of both overlapping of spaces and corridor links will create very interesting
interlink between the units.
Ø
Do
not think building every space available in the site will enhance the usage and
value of the house. In the long run, the benefit out of smaller quality space
is incomparable with large inconvenient dingy space.
Ø
Be it a small apartment, or building at the narrow site, or huge palatial bungalow
or informal farm-house, go for the ‘quality’ space definitely not quantity.
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