Black House in Christchurch, New Zealand by MCAS-Max Capocaccia Architecture Studio

Article source: MCAS-Max Capocaccia Architecture Studio 

The brief required a rectangular floor plan, whilst the creation of partition walls not to celling height and small separations between elements achieved captivating interior spaces that detract from the simple form.

The whole of the North façade and part of the West are glazed so that the entire view is accessible from the living area, dining and kitchen.

Image Courtesy © MCAS-Max Capocaccia Architecture Studio

• Architects: MCAS-Max Capocaccia Architecture Studio
• Project: Black House
• Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
• Software used: Autocad

Image Courtesy © MCAS-Max Capocaccia Architecture Studio

The ceiling is gently sloping towards the northwest corner to generate a subtle feeling of being drawn towards the outside

Heating the house is a geothermal underfloor heating system. It consists of two hundred meter deep boreholes retrieving heat from the underground and exchanging it with the underfloor heating fluid.

Image Courtesy © MCAS-Max Capocaccia Architecture Studio

Image Courtesy © MCAS-Max Capocaccia Architecture Studio

The underfloor heating pipes have been laid into a thin concrete screed above an insulating layer on top of the structural concrete slab. This is to improve the heat radiation.

The roof eave has been designed to keep most of the summer sun out of the building, whilst allowing the winter sun to warm the floors and the two recycled brick feature walls that act as thermal mass storing the heating and releasing it through the night.

Image Courtesy © MCAS-Max Capocaccia Architecture Studio

Image Courtesy © MCAS-Max Capocaccia Architecture Studio

The façade features outward opening windows at high level to allow the heat to escape and generate natural ventilation for cooling during summer.

The house has been designed to minimize thermal bridging in the outside envelope. Roof rafters have been increased in size to have bigger spacing between them allowing for better insulation. The timber wall framing has been increased in size for the same reason. The steel frames are insulated on the outside.

Image Courtesy © MCAS-Max Capocaccia Architecture Studio

Image Courtesy © MCAS-Max Capocaccia Architecture Studio

The timber wall has been installed with 50mm cantilevered over the blockwork to allow continuous insulation to run on the exterior of the wall; this will allow all the concrete walls to function as thermal mass in the lower storey.

Image Courtesy © MCAS-Max Capocaccia Architecture Studio

Tags: Christchurch, New Zealand

Categories: Autocad, House, Residential

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