The Wild-House

The wild-house is a proposed cabin residence for an emergency medicine research student. Located on a site that is in a swamp and an uninhabited environment with most of the natural systems undisrupted yet. The house is tailored to location, climate, materials and the users with a passion of achieving chameleon architecture. The unit is designed with a minimalist approach in terms of its footprint onto the earth and to be self-sufficient when it comes to energy and water usage. This could be achieved by the use of a bio-digester used for any kind of bio waste to produce energy or gas and a rainwater tank for water harvesting. The rain water is later pumped back for in-house use and the water can be heated by use of solar power. The cabin is off the grid in terms of electricity supply as it fully relies on self-generated photovoltaic energy.

INSPIRATION/IDEAS
The main inspiration for this design is the functionality and structure of a palm tree. Studying its nature or anatomy enabled me to get ideas and solutions to create a self-sufficient cabin/unit. I focused on ways how its long shoot or stem rises so high and stands out from other plants round it to give it a good vantage point. Others include; the functionality of the shoot in growth by transporting substances like sup and water, the height of the first branch off the ground creating visibility, the penetration of wind through the branches which is a natural ventilation and the use of the sun during photosynthesis
The wild-house is a proposed cabin residence for an emergency medicine research student. Located on a site that is in a swamp and an uninhabited environment with most of the natural systems undisrupted yet. The house is tailored to location, climate, materials and the users with a passion of achieving chameleon architecture. The unit is designed with a minimalist approach in terms of its footprint onto the earth and to be self-sufficient when it comes to energy and water usage. This could be achieved by the use of a bio-digester used for any kind of bio waste to produce energy or gas and a rainwater tank for water harvesting. The rain water is later pumped back for in-house use and the water can be heated by use of solar power. The cabin is off the grid in terms of electricity supply as it fully relies on self-generated photovoltaic energy.

INSPIRATION/IDEAS
The main inspiration for this design is the functionality and structure of a palm tree. Studying its nature or anatomy enabled me to get ideas and solutions to create a self-sufficient cabin/unit. I focused on ways how its long shoot or stem rises so high and stands out from other plants round it to give it a good vantage point. Others include; the functionality of the shoot in growth by transporting substances like sup and water, the height of the first branch off the ground creating visibility, the penetration of wind through the branches which is a natural ventilation and the use of the sun during photosynthesis
The wild-house is a proposed cabin residence for an emergency medicine research student. Located on a site that is in a swamp and an uninhabited environment with most of the natural systems undisrupted yet. The house is tailored to location, climate, materials and the users with a passion of achieving chameleon architecture. The unit is designed with a minimalist approach in terms of its footprint onto the earth and to be self-sufficient when it comes to energy and water usage. This could be achieved by the use of a bio-digester used for any kind of bio waste to produce energy or gas and a rainwater tank for water harvesting. The rain water is later pumped back for in-house use and the water can be heated by use of solar power. The cabin is off the grid in terms of electricity supply as it fully relies on self-generated photovoltaic energy.

INSPIRATION/IDEAS
The main inspiration for this design is the functionality and structure of a palm tree. Studying its nature or anatomy enabled me to get ideas and solutions to create a self-sufficient cabin/unit. I focused on ways how its long shoot or stem rises so high and stands out from other plants round it to give it a good vantage point. Others include; the functionality of the shoot in growth by transporting substances like sup and water, the height of the first branch off the ground creating visibility, the penetration of wind through the branches which is a natural ventilation and the use of the sun during photosynthesis

TIMBER SCISSOR ROOF; Roof trusses are used to enhance the stability of commercial and household roof structures. They're particularly useful if the roof is constantly exposed to extreme weather variations or the house is located on an unstable soil-bed. Some types of roof trusses can be modified for custom fitting according to different style, size and design preferences.

WALLING;Shear Walls are structural elements in addition to slabs, beams and columns. These walls generally start at foundation level and are continuous throughout the building height.
Thickness is usually 150mm to 400mm.
The building is to have a perforated shear wall with a timber frame that is finished with wood or charred timber cladding.

FOUNDATION AND FLOORING.
Based on the topography and nature(wetland) of the site, there is a need for having a minimal building footprint on site as much as possible. Thus reducing on the ways the building affects the existing ecosystem on and around the site.
The pier & beam foundation is considered to be appropriate for this situation and due to its resilience in very high clay content sites. The foundation also gives great access(crawl space) to all utilities underneath the house later on after construction.

THE BIO DIGESTER / BIO-TOILET; On average every person needs about 1.6m2 space of a biogas tank. Given that the house will be used by one client fulltime and approximately 3-4 of his/her friends will pay a visit once in a while, a biogas tank of 2.4-2.8m2 would be an appropriate measure for them.
The water from the bio-toilet will be clean enough to be collected and used as grey water for irrigating the landscape.
The proposed tank will be of plastic material in order to be easily sourced from the vicinities of the site(Kayabwe).

RAINWATER HARVESTING.
According to the SECOND FIVE YEAR MPIGI DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT PLAN (FY 2015/2016 TO 2019/2020), the District experiences a bi-modal rainfall pattern with first rains occurring between March and May and second rains coming between September and November with an average rainfall amount of 1320 mm though in many areas around the Lake zone it is between 1750mm and 2000mm.
Given the total surface area of the proposed house as 82.75m2, the rainwater harvesting levels might range as follows;

Low: 1320mm*82.75m2 = 109,230L
Medium: 1750mm*82.75m2 = 144,813L
High: 2000mm*82.75m2 = 165,500L
Therefore, a tank of 180,000L would be appropriate.