The Opacity in Connectivity

Project idea

Site Location: Chittagong (Near Karnaphuli River)
Site Features: Hills at the North, Open field at the north, Wind from riverside and south-west

The project was called "Design of a Residence of a Professional". The purpose of this project was to study a professional person (l was assigned a lawyer) and to design a residence with a professional chamber. The following design is a lawyer’s residence whose primary goal is to incorporate a law chamber within the residence which won’t hamper the lawyers' personal life. It presents spaces which connect to form an interesting solid-void relationship. The other goals were: studying various duplex forms, learning to approach designs with a bold concept, etc. Later, I designed the interior details added some other features to the initially designed building and modified the landscape.

The concept comes from the user’s need for spaces which connect the lawyer’s personal life with his professional while creating a barrier for outsiders, who visit the chamber. Hence the design approaches to create opaque and transparent apertures according to space zoning.

Project description

The design emphasizes between the connectivity and discontinuity of spaces with the composition of opaque and transparent openings and brings a unique experience for the habitats and guests.

The designed building is divided into two segments. The Southern segment is the public and semi-private zone and the Northern segment is designed to be a private zone. A pond being in the middle of the two segments, visually separates the private zone from the public.
There are vertical louvres at the entry which visually blocks the residential zone from the entrance. A deck at opposite the louvres, adjacent to the Dining area is a space for enjoying rain while relaxing. A tree in the pond in front of the deck enhances the opacity from entry.
A library located on the upper floor of the chamber is connected with a terrace. This pond is also visible from the library.

Technical information

The building is designed to have wide apertures in the North facade as well as the West to capture the panoramic hill view, North of the Karnaphuli River. There is a field where the locals play in the afternoon. The activity alongside the hill range is designed to be captured from the Family Living.
As the user occasionally plays the piano, the piano set is kept in the Family Living, just beside the terrace to present the user with a serene environment. The terrace has a staircase leading to the rooftop of the building. It not only allows rooftop gardening but also acts as a buffer from heat. The swimming pool can be seen from the terrace at the west of the building. The transparency of the North facade creates visual connectivity with the surrounding nature, presenting a perfect relaxing place.