Project labels
设计公司:PAT. Associated Architects
Location: Kenya
Type: Architecture
Material: Timber, concrete, steel structure system
Tags: Laamu Island
Categories: Leisure & Entertainment Commercial Buildings Resorts Vacation Rentals Hotels
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The Falcon House rises elegantly from the ground, and the architects have created an out-of-this-world space in a less habitable wilderness, where natural breezes cool the treetop park. The building is designed to be part of an ecosystem that integrates the surrounding landscape into the living space, creating a strong connection between nature and indoor dwelling.
▼ Bird's-eye view of the venue
The building employs a modern language and materials rooted in the local culture, without succumbing to exotic and pretentious traditionalism. The involvement of local artisans and the manufacturing industry fosters a harmonious model of cooperation.
▼ Overview of the building
The impetus for the project comes from the reminiscence of the illustrious history of steel construction, especially the experiments of modernist masters such as Raphael Soriano, Pierre Koenig and Craig Elwood. Andrea Veglia, founder of PAT., has long drawn inspiration from these studies. These approaches have resulted in an unexpectedly sustainable home that blends seamlessly with the local environment.
▼Facade and elevated space
The Falcon House is located on a small island with no electricity and running water. To design the home on Manda Island, PAT. Architetti associati, in collaboration with Ferdinando Fagnola, geniusly designed this home overlooking the ancient city of Lamu, Kenya, bringing the forces of nature into the architecture and blending with the environment. The layout of the house consists of separate, elevated rooms that allow the monsoon (Kaskazi, to blow from the northeast between December and March; Kusi, blowing from the south between April and September) naturally cools the room and reduces the use of air conditioning. The electricity harvested by the photovoltaic panels powers the desalination system, which converts the seawater into drinking water that can be used in the house. The rainwater collected in the tank is also used for residential use.
▼ Semi-open space
A pavilion-like structure assembly building that is raised above the ground
The building is constructed of a number of scattered pavilion-like structures, each erected by steel stilts, about three metres above the ground, carefully positioned in harmony with the local acacia and baobab trees.
▼ View of the sea from the elevated space
To create this suspended landscape, PAT. and Ferdinando Fagnola originally explored a timber frame. However, after communicating with the owner, PAT. finally adopted the steel structure system. This not only better reflects the building's unique design language, but also ensures a more cost-effective construction process.
▼ Open façade
Renewable materials, construction technology and environmental quality
The original bungalows on the site were carefully dismantled and the removed planks were recycled. The pavilions and terraces vary in height and are connected to each other by rectilinear corridors. There is a clear distinction between the serving and being served, with bathrooms and wardrobes placed in small towers behind the rooms, connected by a small bridge. The room is raised to the height of a canopy and is shaded by a flat concrete roof with an outer layer of insulation, supporting a ventilated roof system made of corrugated corrosion-resistant steel that provides all-day shade to the house. The ceiling and floor are made of cast-in-place concrete, while the south wall is made of precast concrete blocks, created by local workers using custom-made wood molds.
▼ Shade space
The building is insulated with shading and ventilated concrete, and the east and west walls feature adjustable wood slats to help control the microclimate within the house. The north façade is connected to the sea-view terrace by four large revolving doors. In addition, an adjustable grille can be used to control natural lighting and ventilation. Working closely with local craftsmen, the architects implemented the adjustable manual climate control system through several iterations.
▼ Adjustable façade
▼Exquisite ventilation design
The exterior floor and bathroom tower cladding is made from on-site recycled wood and an abundance of indigenous renewable eucalyptus wood, avoiding over-exploitation of species such as mangroves. The visor is made of a green mulberry with good durability to ensure the longevity of the system.
▼Recycled wood for reuse
"Experience has taught us that staying overnight in the original white house on site is very uncomfortable because the house releases the heat accumulated during the day at night. So we think about whether we can live at the height of the roof. This prompted us to elevate the new house, bring the habitat into the canopy, and divide the volume into pavilions and terraces. This design allows for cross-ventilation and reduces the use of air conditioning. Corrugated metal covers and adjustable wood grilles provide shade for a simple yet efficient climate control system. ”
——PAT.创始人,建筑师Andrea Veglia
Existing houses and multi-purpose buildings
The Falcon House is based on the mid-20th century renovation of the Swahili style "White House" on Laamu Island.
▼ Equipment towers
The white house flows seamlessly into the pavilion system, providing shade to the ground floor living space, while containing a dining room with a large cast-in-place concrete tabletop, cinema and library. The detached gazebo located at the back of the residence was rebuilt at the original address. It has a kitchen and an emerging technology core area, including a rooftop photovoltaic system, an energy storage tank, a desalination system and a water tower.
▼Hidden in the environment
owner
Falcon House is unique on the island's waterfront for a number of reasons, not just the design itself. The owner of the building, an heir to a Milanese family with a strong connection to the history of the city and the Italian fashion industry, is passionate about contemporary art and has spent summers in his family villa in Sardinia. However, what really attracted him was the other residences – designed in the 70s of the 20th century by Ferdinando Fagnola and Gianni Francione, which had recently been renovated in collaboration with PAT.
▼ Overview of the bedroom
These brutalist dwellings blend perfectly with the coastal topography, nestled among vegetation and granite, and dissolve into the seascape. A few years later, when the owner wanted to build a home in Kenya, he had a strong desire to reimagine the connection to the land in an environment close to the equator. With this in mind, he contacted Ferdinando Fargnola and PAT. After a collaborative ideation phase, PAT. was able to implement a project that seamlessly blends contemporary forms and materials with the natural environment and culture, eschewing exotic and pretentious traditionalism.
▼Transparent interior space
▼Outdoor view
Leverage local wisdom and experience
The advent of the Falcon House combines a range of local wisdom and experience. The project is a comprehensive representation of the designer's keen sense of culture and environment, seamlessly blending local and distant sensibilities. PAT. uses indigenous resources and wisdom to create sustainable solutions that are both innovative and respectful of traditional culture.
▼Restroom
▼Tower view
PAT.'s new project is completely off-grid because it is cut off from all infrastructure, including roads, and can only be accessed from the sea. The building exemplifies the quest for complete self-sufficiency in energy and technology. Inspired by the beach villas designed by Craig Ellwood and Paul Rudolph, the architect emphasised the study of steel frames, as well as the exploration of microclimates and natural ventilation, influenced by the work of Pierre Koenig, who influenced Andrea Veglia in his early years as a student in California. The Falcon House reinterprets the precious, sometimes forgotten modernity, and it is with these buildings that PAT. wants to maintain a dialogue with.
▼Bathroom
▼Overview of the night view
▼Night view façade
▼Close-up of the night scene
▼ Total plan
▼ Master plan of the first floor
▼Ground floor plan
▼ Floor plan
▼立面图