Bienville House Ihe Eji Ewu Ulo by Nathan Fell

Bienville House Ihe Eji Ewu Ulo by Nathan Fell is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2020 Ihe Nrite A' Design Award nke Ọlaedo in Nhazi Ụlọ Owu, Ụlọ na Ihe Owuwu Competition Category.

ỌlaedoỤlọ Owu· 2020

Bienville House Ihe Eji Ewu Ulo

by Nathan Fell

Client: Nathan Fell Architecture

Ihe Nrite A' Design Award nke Ọlaedo Winner in Ụlọ Owu Category

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The Design

About Bienville House Ihe Eji Ewu Ulo

Arụ ọrụ nke ezinụlọ a na-arụ ọrụ chọrọ ka ha nọrọ n'ụlọ ruo ogologo oge, nke na mgbakwunye na ọrụ na ụlọ akwụkwọ na-akpaghasị ọdịmma ha. Ha malitere ịtụgharị uche, dị ka ọtụtụ ezinụlọ, ma ịkwaga n'obodo ndị gbara ya gburugburu, ị na-agbanye ihe ndị dị n'obodo nso maka nnukwu ụlọ iji bulie ohere n'èzí. Kama ịkwaga n'ebe dị anya, ha kpebiri iwu ụlọ ọhụrụ nke ga-atụle njedebe nke ndụ ụlọ n'ime ụlọ n'obere obodo. Organikpụrụ nhazi nke usoro a bụ ike ị nweta ohere dị ukwuu site na mpaghara ala anyị niile enwere ike.

The Recognition

About the Ihe Nrite A' Design Award nke Ọlaedo

Bienville House Ihe Eji Ewu Ulo meriri A' Design Award nke Ọlaedo, nnabata dị oke ugwu e nyere design ndị dị n'ọkwa mbụ, dị ịtụnanya ma pụtara ìhè. Ndị meriri na Ọlaedo bụ ihe e kere eke dị oke ọhụrụ, nwere ọhụụ ma na-egbu maramara nke na-egosipụta ọgụgụ isi, amamihe na nka nke ndị designer ha. A na-atụ anya na Bienville House Ihe Eji Ewu Ulo ga-abụ ihe e mepụtara kacha enweta otuto, na-edu ọnọdụ ma bụrụ ihe ncheta nke na-enye uru na-adịbeghị mgbe ọ bụla. Design a meriri A' Design Award nke Ọlaedo bụ ọrụ dị ebube, a na-asọpụrụ nke na-erite uru buru ibu ma na-ebuga oke nka, sayensị, design na teknụzụ n'ihu. Bienville House Ihe Eji Ewu Ulo na-eweta mmetụta ọchịchọ siri ike, na-akpali agụụ, na-akwado nzụlite ihe ma na-adọrọ anyị adọrọ.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Forms are configured to accentuate transparency between 1st Floor interior spaces and exterior. Upper floors contain private spaces, wrapped by exterior surfaces forming an echelon of suspended cubes legible from multiple viewpoints. Walls supporting the cubic forms are a series of exposed concrete walls with a gap between the walls and the cubic form to render each (the wall and cubes) distinctly. The static forms juxtapose the animated interior space as a frame, reinforcing the transparency.
Dimensions & Packaging: Thermomass, Cast in Place Concrete Walls, two walls, 30 ft tall x 73 ft long. American Fiber Cement, Exterior Cladding and 1st Floor Ceiling, Approximately 4200 sf. LaCantina Sliding Glass Doors 12 ft high x 40 ft long, 12 ft high x 14 ft long and 12 ft high x 16 ft long. Lumenwerx, 1st Floor Linear Downlights, VIA 4 LED (22 lights). Minka Air, 1st Floor Ceiling Fans, 8 fans.
Tags: Urban, Outside, Transparency, Frame, Mass, Duplex, Open, Monolithic, Cubes, Communal
Production Technology: The exterior load bearing walls are concrete cast in place board formed ThermoMass walls which help stabilize the temperature through the thermal mass of the inside wall. Due to site constraints it was only possible to cast the 30 feet tall wall in 10 feet pours across the site, then pull the forms and frame floor as the walls cured. Form panels were reassembled above only after floor were framed.
Design Challenge: New Orleans is a city that is often proudly slow to change, and sometimes more romantic about the past than future. This can cast an air of inevitability over new residential development within the city, that tawdry mimicry (more associated with suburban development) is the only possible path for a design. The house is constructed using materials that make sense environmentally even if they may be unconventional regionally while using certain historic paradigms a precedent (such as the poly-entry lowest level).
Research: Materials had to be research for practical constructability, affordability and visual appeal. Additionally, the design had to comply with local flood zone requirements, historic, zoning and code provisions without a variance. The original concept had to compressed back due to these regulation and practical restraints, resulting in a more complicated design.
Inspiration: Logistics of a working family requires family members stay tethered to their homes for longer periods than each would prefer. This can become disruptive to your wellness when all your time at school, work and home is spent indoors. The homeowners preferred the city to suburbs, so rather than moving far away, they decided to make a bold change by building a new house that flipped the script on indoor home life on a small urban lot.
Project Duration: The project is located in New Orleans, LA (USA) and started in January of 2017. It was completed in June of 2019.
Operation Flow: The duplex maximizes use of a small urban lot with space for or groups of people in each unit. The central goal of the design was to configure communal spaces in a way that best accesses outdoor light, air and volume. The rear unit consists of 4 beds, 3.5 baths and the front is a rental unit with 3 beds, 2.5 baths. The layout orients the rental unit as its public face, actively engaging travelers with the city, while mirroring the position of the primary unit with the rear yard to favor seclusion.
Patents: Copyrights belong to Nathan Fell
Image Credits: All Photographs by Justin Cordova. All Drawings by Nathan Fell Architecture.