13/11/2021
Project name:
SHL CHISTY’S YACHT
Client :
Shanta Holdings Ltd.
Design firm:
ARC+Auritro Consortium
Principal Architect:
Nahas Ahmed Khalil & Mohammad Mahbub Hossain
Associates Architect:
Mohammad Sakib Hossain & Syed Rahat Hasan
St ENG:
Prof. Fakrulamin
Elec ENG :
Md. Altaf Hossain
Rahman Plumb ENG:
A K M Kamaruzzaman
Photography:
Al-Amin Abu Ahmed Ashraf-Dolon
Concept:
Land values in Dhaka has driven most of us to live inside rows of vertically stacked faceless pigeon-holes. These abodes are devoid of contact with green and in most cases deprived of natural light and air-flow, vital to physical and mental comfort. So far, since the adoption of the current Bye-laws, in our efforts to make living better, we have successfully been able to make the most of a landscaped ground level and roof as an extension of the “home”, to be equally used by all residents, especially their children. The total “open areas” on Ground, Roof and terraces amounted to 132% of the plot area. This extremely attractive location placed additional responsibilities of exploiting the guaranteed open views on almost three sides with long views over the tree-lined lakefront. In trying to maximise views from the individual pigeon-holes, we set ourselves two tasks. Firstly, to try and convert as many verandas into “terrace-like” spaces as possible, where contact with the sky and feeling of being outdoors can be instilled. This was done by creating double and triple height terrace-like-verandas. This was achieved by a combination of shifting floorplans between the drawing room; dining room; Family Space and the veranda. Though the primary concern of the exercise was getting high spaces outside, the exterior harmony of the building skin also proved to be a strong guiding factor. Second was the exploration of how much opening could be created in private spaces inside, in order to get a better connection with the outside. The realisation that the higher we go the more privacy is ensured and the better the view, led to the choice of the curved forms, tapering out making the building look lighter. Structurally, the higher we go, the lesser loads are carried by the walls and columns, it is possible to make the load-bearing elements lighter as we go up. By making the external load-bearing elements in the shape of a tapered curved wall, it became possible to open up the each floor a little bit more as we went higher. Corner windows developed and the views became wider. With the almost triangular shape of the plot, the narrow end being the west, it was easy to choose an orientation such that only one room faced the west, with additional openings to the lake on the north. Verandas helped cut off much of the sun, while absorbing the views to the open west. The ground level height was elevated to more than twenty feet, mainly to allow the street users to get a through view across to the lakeside trees. While this helps the ground level residents to connect vertically to the outside, it makes more of a difference to the street, where the indirect presence of the lake is continued across the narrow plot that would otherwise have been cut-off by the walled presence of the building.