VISION 46 — A CHIP OFF THE BLOCK
You have always championed the idea of neighbourly
consideration when in close proximity to others.
Privacy and acoustic amenity, these things are real issues,
especially in a built up area. Where can you push things?
Where you can pull things? Where can you go crazy?
Where shouldn’t you be allowed to go crazy? But again,
it’s about a polite response to a built up environment.
At the end of the day, you’ll be putting your garbage out
with the neighbours, so you’ve got to be able to nod and
get on with them. I think that’s a critical part of being
a human in a human environment.
In essence what is the design approach here?
We’ve been able to achieve a lovely northwest facing
row of terraces. Glass is a great tool there. The sliding
doors are great. That affords acoustic and visual privacy.
On the top level we’ve explored the idea of general
privacy with this veil or this second skin. Two components
of this building are the northwest aspect and the terrace.
It’s working really well with the glass. The idea is it’s an
indoor/outdoor living environment. It’s a quite strong
response, and Viridian’s product works fabulously for
that particular area.
And the interior?
The second component, of course, is the private zone
veiled by the exterior screen of vertical blades. This acts
in two ways. It gives partial visual privacy, but the real
reason is environmental, to boost its sustainability.
There’s less sun-load and heat loss on the glass facade
upstairs. In a nutshell it’s a dual environmental response
of screens and effectively cutting direct heat loads while
retaining tremendous clarity. On the lower level glass
accentuates the indoor outdoor feel.