Madison Foote
Andrea Camilleri House Retrofit Project
The project intent is to design the retrofit of a one-century old building. The design should aim for a low energy/zero energy sustainable retrofit of the old house of the writer Andrea Camilleri.
The Andrea Camilleri House retrofit project intends to redesign the late author's home into a low energy building that accommodates the Camilleri Foundation, as well as travelling authors.
The goal of the design is to create a building that meets all three pillars of sustainable design (environmental, social, and economic), while creating an identity and street presence for the Camilleri Foundation through architecture.
Andrea Camilleri House Retrofit Project
The project intent is to design the retrofit of a one-century old building. The design should aim for a low energy/zero energy sustainable retrofit of the old house of the writer Andrea Camilleri.
The Andrea Camilleri House retrofit project intends to redesign the late author's home into a low energy building that accommodates the Camilleri Foundation, as well as travelling authors.
The goal of the design is to create a building that meets all three pillars of sustainable design (environmental, social, and economic), while creating an identity and street presence for the Camilleri Foundation through architecture.
Form Development:
The form is an extension of the existing building, with the vertical circulation reaching the roof level. This extrusion increases the usable indoor floor area, while not affecting the existing building structure. This reduces the amount of demolition debris, as well as the emissions produced during the demolition process. The orientation of the new form also allows for the existing gardens to remain, while incorporating additional outdoor seating areas for the community and users of the building.
Creating an Identity:
The existing building had little transparency to the interior program. Thus, to promote community engagement, the building was ‘opened up’ at grade to showcase the social spaces and connect the users with the exterior gardens. The horizontal louvres were added for passive shading; however, their repetition creates an order amongst the chaos of the surrounding landscape.
Environmental Sustainability:
The building uses passive design strategies to reduce the amount of energy and water consumption, while maximizing natural daylighting to ensure occupant visual and thermal comfort. In addition, insulation was added to the wall, and the windows were changed to triple glazing units with low-e films to reduce the heat transfer through the assembly. These small changes will reduce the amount of energy required to condition the building.
Economic Sustainability:
The existing building façade was incorporated into the new design, and therefore additional materials for the assembly’s construction was only required for the building addition. As well, the wall assembly modifications reduce the overall conditioning costs.
In terms of flexible spaces, the new program is more dynamic and inclusive than the existing building. Therefore, it will reduce the intervention intensity upon the next retrofit of the building.
Social Sustainability:
The proposal includes a number of outdoor and indoor gathering spaces that connect directly to exterior garden spaces. The addition of
the café also promotes social inclusion as there is now a space for the community to take advantage of.
