Housing + Farm preliminary design

Good day CGPinoy!
Mag papaconsult po sana ako nitong preliminary design ko po ng thesis proposal ko po.
Basically housing + farm po ang idea nito. Prototype lamang po ito ng isang building, composed of 16 units, 4 for each floors, with adjacent farm unit.
Sana po makakuha po ako ng comments, crits, and suggestions po from professionals and students alike.
Malaking tulong po ito para maimprove ko pa po hanggat maaga itong proposal ko po...








ROUGH RENDERS

dwelling facade

farm unit facade

roofdeck



Salamat po in advane!

I am not sure how your school judges its thesis presentations and also the parameters they give you but my advise is to consider the following:

1. The feasibility of the project should be studied more carefully, is it really practical or cost-effective to build this type of housing unit/farm combo? I know this is only a thesis so I am not asking for a full financial study complete with ROI (return of investment). However you have to make sure that what you are building even makes sense, you will have to somewhat justify your concept of why you even proposed to build this type of building. Won't it be more practical to just plant on land than housing it in a building? I am not saying that your proposal will not work, but you will have to be ready to defend it with facts and numbers.

2. Best way to see if your proposal is workable is that if someone has tried something like this before. Look for precedents to help you justify your theories and also look for studies done by scientists that can help you defend your idea of placing a farm in a dwelling unit.

Thanks sir LWF, in fact the whole study about its effectiveness with regards to its cost efficiency molds the design of this building. we even formulate programs for the this housing community in which payment is not in the form of money but via sweat equity from farming. the size of the farm is design to ensure ROI within less than 25 years dependeing on the performance of the beneficiary. (we figured it out that the whole deliberation might be all about income and ROI)

this project is, or must be profit oriented in the first place, so i can say that i'm confident enough with my feasibility study about the proposal. I also have researches, practically ideas about the same concept... there are actual projects in which these technologies are used and proven effective.

Thanks again sir for your helpful suggestions and comments.
actually I'm after the architectural or structural flaws of the design, but i guess the feasibility is to be likely discussed.
thanks again sir LWF!

The farm space is too small to sustain the occupants daily needs and rent. This is only feasible if you are cultivating high grade vegetables or fruit or ornamental plants or maybe wild orchids. Plants that are sold at a premium.

Maybe some expensive mushroom or organic plant. That's the only time you'll be able to sustain this thesis and make it marketable.

pipicosis wrote:Thanks sir LWF, in fact the whole study about its effectiveness with regards to its cost efficiency molds the design of this building. we even formulate programs for the this housing community in which payment is not in the form of money but via sweat equity from farming. the size of the farm is design to ensure ROI within less than 25 years dependeing on the performance of the beneficiary. (we figured it out that the whole deliberation might be all about income and ROI)

this project is, or must be profit oriented in the first place, so i can say that i'm confident enough with my feasibility study about the proposal. I also have researches, practically ideas about the same concept... there are actual projects in which these technologies are used and proven effective.

Thanks again sir for your helpful suggestions and comments.
actually I'm after the architectural or structural flaws of the design, but i guess the feasibility is to be likely discussed.
thanks again sir LWF!

If that is the case, we will need more than one cross section perspective to judge your architectural design. Floor plans, colored elevations and perspectives (rough sketches) will be the only way for us to give you any useful feedback.

bokkins wrote:The farm space is too small to sustain the occupants daily needs and rent. This is only feasible if you are cultivating high grade vegetables or fruit or ornamental plants or maybe wild orchids. Plants that are sold at a premium.

Maybe some expensive mushroom or organic plant. That's the only time you'll be able to sustain this thesis and make it marketable.

Good day sir bokkins! thanks for stopping by:bounce:

according to the study and handbook of aquaponic design, a 10m² aquaponic farm can generate 1kg of assorted fruit and vegie a day in full cycle,depending on the module used (excluding tha fish produce). this is achieved by crop rotation method and time-tabled planting, although it requires experience, it is stated that a 10m² aquaponic module is more than enough to sustain daily consumption of vegetable of a family of 5members.

Now in the case of Filipino vegetable consumption, according to the world health organization, the average vegetable consumption of filipino is 150gramms a day, (lower compared to american consumption of 400gramms) while NCR, region IV and V consume only 94 gramms a day...

about the crops to be planted, i'm planning on mixing intensive aquaponic module for lettuce and cabbages, and the other half is for assorted rootcrops, vines, etc. our computations shows that it is profitable enough to sustain the monthly payment for the housing module, and besides, aquaponic requires just 2-4hrs of working time a day, providing time for an alternative or other major source of income for the family.

these are my data regarding the effectiveness of the aquaponic farm and its given size for each family...

thanks again sir bokkins!

LWF wrote:

pipicosis wrote:

Thanks again sir for your helpful suggestions and comments.
actually I'm after the architectural or structural flaws of the design, but i guess the feasibility is to be likely discussed.
thanks again sir LWF!

If that is the case, we will need more than one cross section perspective to judge your architectural design. Floor plans, colored elevations and perspectives (rough sketches) will be the only way for us to give you any useful feedback.

I thought so, pardon me sir, I'm just thinking about the confidentiality of my thesis, but anyways, i'll post some of the floor plans and perhaps a perspective drawing,

thanks again sir LWF!

Ok good! Medyo convincing naman ang mga figures mo.

Ang masusugest ko pa is make it profitable rather that just sustaining. Pump up your numbers mo and lessen you ROI period.

Good luck! Looks promising in terms of numbers and figures. If you still have time, try to work more on your space planning. premium ang views at cross vent, try to work on it. sayang ang laundry area mo, lagay mo somewhere else.

bokkins wrote:Ok good! Medyo convincing naman ang mga figures mo.

Ang masusugest ko pa is make it profitable rather that just sustaining. Pump up your numbers mo and lessen you ROI period.

Good luck! Looks promising in terms of numbers and figures. If you still have time, try to work more on your space planning. premium ang views at cross vent, try to work on it. sayang ang laundry area mo, lagay mo somewhere else.

thanks sir i'll work on that,
i'm also planning to make my open spaces profitable by planting fruit bearing trees along path ways or grazing field for chickens or goat if possible open pond system, that will be managed socially...

Here are my suggestions / comments:

1. space planning can use improvement, having such a small space you really do not want to divide your spaces even more, so having a wall in-between the living and dining room will make both spaces look smaller, try opening your space up more, meaning less partitions, it will feel more spacious. if you can make 1 big space of the living, dining and kitchen, do so. it will feel a lot bigger than 3 small separate spaces. use low partitions, furniture, rugs, floor finish to delineate separation rather than full walls. light and air will also flow better.

2. bedrooms are ideally close to each other, but is not necessary. also better since they only have one bathroom.

3. windows can be bigger as well and can also have more design in them, see if using bay-like windows will add interest to the façade.

Overall your design seems very functional. I know the old saying "form follows function" but to be truthful, that should not always be the case. If that was true, engineers will be good enough and architects are not needed. You need to think more of making a design statement. this is a thesis, so even though I asked you to check your feasibility, ROI and other practical considerations, in the end this is all about design.

design wise you need to make your building look more interesting. it looks very functional right now but it needs to look unique and convey its purpose of being a aquaponics/farm -residential combo building. hard to explain all the details, it will take several hours of lecture for me to explain exactly what i mean ( i used to teach in UST CAFA as a lecturer in architecture). this is a thesis, so you have to be daring, bold and take chances in your design. this is your time to let your imagination and design dreams run amok.

your concept and how it translates to your design can use improvement, its hard for me to tell you what exactly you should do so instead, use Google and search "herzog de meuron dominus winery". read some of the articles and also look at the images.

this winery is made from stone coming from the surrounding areas and makes the winery look like it is really part of the landscape. since wine is a product of the earth, associating the design down to the earth itself really grounds the project down and makes it look like part of the natural landscape. but it is not just all looks, the stone walls also help in the cooling of the interiors. also winemaking is also very dependent on the soil and location of the vineyard, or what they call "terrior" or a sense of place. so the stone wall also effectively coveys this subtle message. this is sort of a simplified explanation, there are a lot of subtleties to the design, but i do not want to write a dissertation on this now. anyway you see how the uniqueness of the use (winery) was conveyed in the design itself while at the same time solves some of the functional requirements/challenges of the winery.

what do you take from this? you should reflect on how you can make your design unique, how its unique requirements are solved should be one of the primary drivers of design, that also includes the uniqueness of your site. the Baguio Rice terraces evolved its design from the uniqueness of its site and needs, so should your building. your building should not look like an office building or a mall (I am not saying that it does), it should grab the viewers attention and look really "eco-like" (whatever that means) and of course look good and interesting. how to achieve that is your challenge. my only point here is do not let "just" function drive your design.

Thanks again sir LWF for these helpful tips and suggestions!

actually, costing limits our design in this proposal, construction must be simplified, the use of prefabricated materials is a must, all must be cost efficient and reasonable enough.
But your comment inspires me a lot that I want to break that limit, haha!
and yea it looks more like an industrial building rather than a residential one. but i'm working on it, i guess proper choice of materials will do the trick.

Thanks again sir LWF!

Sana di pa late magcomment.
Don't focus too much on ROI, since thesis ito you should focus more on architectural solution,Elaborate mo na lang kung pano gagana yung building systems mo, be ready sa mga questions like:
1. Paano papasok at lalabas ang tubig sa building mo?
2. ano ang structural solution mo para ma-withstand yung bigat ng soil sa bawat palapag?
3. paano mo mamaximize ang pag capture sa sunlight or rain na kailangan ng halaman mo?
4.anong mga halaman ang pwede mong itanim na kayang mabuhay sa farm mo?

maraming unexpected questions, just be ready. Kung alam mo kung pano gumagana yung building mo, wala kang magiging problema.
Good Luck.