We are launching two new sections on our website: Zoom Out and Zoom In. These sections feature in-depth stories about our projects. In the first section, we focus on broad, overarching themes that are relevant to our designs. We explore these themes through specific projects and designs. The second section delves deeper into the details of one of our designs. Each month, a new topic will take the spotlight. The series kicks off with Zoom Out: Heat Resistance. How can you use the tropical climate to your advantage when designing a building?
In the Caribbean, there is a significant challenge to make buildings more resilient to climate change and rising temperatures. Heat resistance is a crucial task in this context. With summers getting hotter, many homes have become uncomfortable, especially when they are poorly designed. This is an increasingly urgent problem in the Netherlands as well.
Comfortable homes
Our designs are always focused on how a building can best fit a specific location. We constantly look for ways to utilize the surrounding environment in the design of the building. In this video, Lyongo Juliana explains how we approached this in the Villa van de Sande on Bonaire. This home has been fully adapted to the hilly landscape of Sabadeco. As you can see and hear in the video, wind plays a crucial role in keeping the house cool and comfortable, just like in other housing projects such as Villa Catalina, Villa Shangrila and the homes in Sapaté and Hófi Vidanova. The way we position windows, doors, and elevate the roof contributes to the cross ventilation which enhances the comfort of the space and ensures that our buildings are much more pleasant to stay in.
Making cool school buildings
Our colleague Maya de Ridder also works with wind in her designs for the School Campus on Saba to make the building more comfortable for students and users. “I am currently working on the design for the sports facility of the new school campus. In this design, we ensure cross-ventilation by adding smart type of windows, allowing fresh air to flow into the building.”
“Engaging with residents and users provides valuable insights into the local climate, which helps us to understand its challenges and uncover the potentials. By studying the specific wind patterns of the site, I can better assess how to create a pleasant indoor climate. Natural ventilation and shaded areas, both inside and around the building, are key to comfort. Additionally, glass must be used wisely; it requires careful consideration of its shape, percentage, and placement. That’s why we integrated adjustable louvres as windows at varying heights, which help optimize airflow for students participating in physical activities. A well-designed space integrates natural dynamics, smart material choices, and optimizes natural light to meet the needs of its users.”
Designing a hospital
Another project where we conducted extensive heat research is the hospital, Curacao Medical Center, in Willemstad. We had to demonstrate that no more than two hours of sunlight could enter the building per day. In collaboration with our partner Deerns, we investigated this and came up with solutions. Deerns made a simulation of the path of the sun during the different months of the year, With this simulation they could indicate per façade what the ideal spacing between the elements of the sunscreen would be. Our design of the sun screen was adapted according to their findings.
The findings of this research were also applied on our design for the ADC Laboratory in Willemstad, even though the elements of the sunscreens are much smaller but by reducing the distance between them and enhance maintaining the same sun penetration angle we can still ensure the desired protection.
Green, blue and yellow
In addition to wind, greenery is also an important factor in cooling the environment. As we have researched for various projects in a tropical climate, trees help make the surroundings cooler. On a hot, windless day, a green neighborhood can feel 10 to 15 degrees Celsius cooler than an urban area that is more exposed to the sun. For our new project, Hófi Vidanova, we have created no less than 27 shared gardens within the residential area, contributing to a cooler and more pleasant climate.
When desiging a whole new neighborhood you can also look at other ways to cool the area. With Hófi Vidanova we experimented with different colors of asphalt. People should feel encouraged to enjoy the outdoor spaces, so to emphasize this vision, we have highlighted the pathways between the hofi’s with yellow asphalt. These pedestrian-only areas are designed to be safe and welcoming, providing a perfect environment where children can play freely. Meanwhile, the main routes for cars are marked by black pavement, creating a clear separation between the vehicle and pedestrian zones.
In Villa van de Sande, the house showed in the video, we have also used water to help to make the building cooler. Since the swimming pool is close to the living area the evaporation of the pool water helps to bring down the temperature in this part of the house. By the way, it is a magnesium pool, so no unpleasant chlorine stench around the living area.
As you can see we try to use all of the elements to our advantage in our projects – and are highly motivated to keep creating heat resistance designs.
