We build our shelter to have a comfortable living and to re-energise our daily life. Elevation or facade of a building should be given equal importance as we design the floor layouts. The exterior facade needs to compliment the interior spaces, in terms of daylight, temperature, ventilation etc. considering the privacy and security of the occupants. It’s not just about using different materials available or a mixture of different styles.
Every site will have unique characters like the site location, orientation, proportions, specific climatic conditions; visibility, nearby structures, focal points to our buildings, surrounding landscape etc. and we need to consider them while designing the elevation. Having a solid wall in the northern facade and big windows in the southern facade will have a negative impact on the comfort level of the interior spaces. The position and size of the windows need to done considering the building orientation, interiors spaces and the effect on elevation. Various shapes and sizes of windows can be used depending on the usability of the interior space and the unity among the exterior elements.
It’s a treatment and not just an Ornament
Any architectural elevation style can be followed, but we need to make sure that it synchronizes with the floor layout and with few modifications to the parent style to suite with our environment without losing the unity among the design elements. While following the unity, we need to have the variety to make them look unique. Emphasis is important in the elevation design to lead the eye of the viewer; it can be achieved by contrast in colour, shape or texture or by isolating one element from the successive pattern. Proportions and balance among the design elements and the choice of colours which is translated through materials, texture etc. are important aspects of elevation design
Artistic Wall Cladding Design
Pixelated Cladding Wall
Perforated Facade
We have been seeing a trend of more environmental friendly residences in terms of materials used, façade treatments etc. Our traditional architecture style was in line with our environmental conditions and now we can see the use of traditional ideas/elements in different forms. The skin wall or double walls are one such design element. The skin walls acts as external element and the intermediate cavity acts as insulation from extreme temperature, winds, and sound, improving the building’s thermal efficiency. Some of the elements are different types of louvers, perforated or jali walls etc. The use of these elements depends on the orientation of the building, scale of the building; elevation details etc. and they are available or achievable in different materials and finishes as required.
The once faded out style, jali blocks and perforated walls are fast absorbing design trend these days. Parametric designs can help us in achieving the prefect perforation size or the orientation of jali blocks depending on the environmental parameters such as sun angles, day lighting, wind directions etc. and occupant’s privacy. Jali blocks are generally available in cement/concrete and clay; few standard perforation design sheets with varying perforation dimensions are readily available in metal sheets. The parametric design skins are generally produced as per the requirements at site on the required material. The perforations are cut using CNC or water jet cutting machine. With the right amount of lighting it can give us interesting patterns during day and night time.
Once the design layouts with the elements are finalized the next important factor is to emphasise the elements, walls etc. As said earlier it can be achieved with colours, textures and materials, but they need to synchronize with the right balance. We need to treat the façade as a canvas and arrange various elements such as texture walls, cladding walls etc. giving them equal importance. Other than the louvers, perforation panels, sun shades etc. the texture, cladding wall and lights can add the ornamental value to the elevation. Rather than having a wall fully cladded with a material, if we can design a composition with the cladding elements it can give the right emphasise with unity among variety. The selection of designer wall lights and positioning them will provide us with two different looks to the façade during the day and night.
The idea of having green walls, vertical gardens are one another absorbing design trend. With the reducing land area, and the loss of green lands to occupy the increasing population, designing our residences with environment friendly factors can help us to contribute to have a right balance to an extent. In short the elevation or façade design is a treatment to the building and not just an ornament.
Surag Viswanathan Iyer
Principal Architect
Eminence Architects [Research + Design]
Tripunithura
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +91 9895347562