Developing biophilic intermediate spaces for Arctic housing:Optimizing the thermal,visual,and energy performance

Connecting occupants to the outdoor environment and incorporating biophilic design principles are challenging in extreme Arctic climatic conditions.Existing Arctic housing models do not provide efficient thermal and daylight transitions which are essential for the well-being and cultural needs of their occupants.To address these challenges,this research develops free-running biophilic intermediate spaces,integrated into an existing Arctic housing model.Numerical simulation methods are employed to optimize the primary and secondary architectural design variables for 26 case studies of intermediate spaces.Primary variables include volume,transparency ratio,and orientation.Secondary variables include materials and physical adjacency.Temperature,Daylight Factor/Autonomy,and Energy Use are evaluated as performance indicators.Results reveal that free-running intermediate spaces with 6 meters depth and a transparency ratio above 50%provide efficient indoor–outdoor transitions regarding thermal,visual,and energy performance.Such architectural configurations contribute to an approximately 5%reduction in energy consumption within the housing unit compared to the baseline.Opening side windows prevents the risk of overheating during the summer by reducing the average indoor temperature of intermediate spaces by 7°C but increases the overall energy consumption.As a potential alternative to double-glazing,polycarbonate sheets enable efficient thermal performance by increasing the average indoor temperature of intermediate spaces by approximately 15°C during the cold Arctic seasons.Using polycarbonate sheets results in a 16.6%reduction in energy consumption compared to using double-glazing material in intermediate space,and a 26%reduction from the baseline.Research outcomes contribute to efficient indoor–outdoor connections and energy efficiency in Arctic housing.

Intermediate space for housing design learned from tradition of Korean maru and Turkish sofa

The study examines traditional design approaches for intermediate spaces of residential buildings to support environmentally driven design strategies of current practices.For the evaluation of the potential of traditional design strategies,traditional houses of Korea and Turkey are explored by making a detailed comparison of maru and sofa according to theoretical considerations on intermediate spaces.After examining the concept of the intermediate space and the general characteristics of Korean and Turkish traditional housing,10 cases from 17th to 19th centuries are selected and compared to clarify the features of maru and sofa as intermediate spaces.Based on the results,the arrangement of maru shows characteristics of contradiction between interior rooms and intermediate spaces in a monotonous structural repetition,while sofa presents an apparently hierarchical spatial composition.Sofa has the placeness quality,while maru has the quality of plurality,actively mixing both inside and outside environments.While maru allows various free access with clear spatial continuity,sofa produces a sequential spatial experience with the pleasure of different architectural qualities.Finally,the study suggests opened type and closed type of intermediate space as two possible strategies for modern houses based on the results of comparative analyses.Recent environmental studies in architecture should consider intermediate spaces of various traditional houses due to the insights and possibilities these spatial elements may potentially provide to both architectural practice and theory,especially in a pandemic era.