86 | Alessandro Quadrelli Architects Attention grabbing architectural character The Idris House sits on a busy crossroad and AQA’s design brief included the challenge of controlling traffic noise and providing privacy. Photo: Baptiste Marconnet Richard Loader ARCHITECTURE Alessandro Quadrelli is passionate about his craft and says sometimes architecture needs to be presented to the wider public, as some projects have an architectural character and story that begs to be told. The New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) awards provides the perfect forum for such storytelling, and Alessandro believes the Idris House has much to tell. Designed by Alessandro Quadrelli Architetto (AQA), the Idris House has been shortlisted in the 2022 Canterbury Architecture awards in the Housing category, for the second year. The Idris House sits on a busy crossroad between Fendalton Rd and Idris Rd and AQA’s design brief included the challenge of controlling traffic noise and providing privacy, while at the same time maximising solar gain and promoting outdoor connection and lifestyle. The design response is a secret garden, that is a closed patio expressed by a relationship between the outside and the inside of the home. From the street the building expresses a sense of boundary and visual barrier through the brick fence wall and the house itself; conversely, experienced from the inside, the large glass openings and the layout arrangement create a perception that the internal spaces are an extension of the garden. “The house is conceived as a thick wall, which sits strategically on the site to maximise the internal garden, while minimising and isolating manoeuvring and services spaces,” says Alessandro. “The resulting main body is then excavated from the inside to create the necessary connections to the garden. The essence of the building is therefore revealed gradually, 0800BESTWINDOWS info@fairviewconcepts.co.nz www.fairviewconcepts through the ritual of entering it, according to which the understanding of the internal spaces cannot be obvious from the outside, and its enjoyment is subject to a gradual reveal of those ones at the time of their fruition. The resulting design privileges the intimacy of the landlords, through a simple language that aims to create a calm and timeless piece of architecture.” Idris House design puts a strong emphasis on sustainability, through the overall design orientation and material selection, to provide thermal mass and solar gain control through the different seasons. It has been constructed with double framing and insulation, completely airtight, with the additional detailing of thermally broken window joinery recessed behind the cladding. “Sustainability does not belong only to remote off-grid buildings,” explains Alessandro. “We can design a fine and elegant town house and still offer sustainability and thermal efficiency, improving comfort and indoor life quality. Obviously, it is usual to deal with constraints or necessary compromises contributing to the initial sustainability goals. I feel that there is a value in doing that, keeping in mind that the final user is always at the centre of the design. However, we have learned in the past years that we can still settle a direction and create precedents for the people and the market to follow and evolve from.” AQA was established in 2017, as a Christchurch based practice offering nationwide architectural services to its clients. Describing himself as an artisan architect, Alessandro expresses his craft on his own, providing clients with a complete suite of services, while maximising technology for efficiency gain. “My clients are getting the benefit of dealing with an architect who does everything from the preliminary consultations to the concepts and the detailed drawings — with passion. “It’s not like a production in series, but more like at an artisan level, with the architect looking at everything daily, polishing it while enjoying the process, until clients are happy with the result. The best feedback I got from my clients is how amazed they were about the overall provided quality, up to the end of the process.” “The house is conceived as a thick wall, which sits strategically on the site to maximise the internal garden, while minimising and isolating manoeuvring and services spaces.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=