COOLHOUSE

The COOLHOUSE addresses the housing crisis in rural India. The young generation moves away from rural areas for education and work resulting in a consistant lack of professionals in suburban areas, the COOLHOUSE proposes a design solution that is modern, contemporary ,with references to Indian vernacular architecture to attract the young professionals to move back from the city. It provides a quality of life that can be compatible to city life.

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Rural communities face unique challenges when dealing with the affordable housing crisis. Because development does not generally occur at a large scales in rural areas, construction costs are often higher in rural communities compared to urban areas, which reduces the incentives for private investment. the construction method of COOLHOUSE is basic and local, the maintenance of it can also be achieved off-grid.

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The design implements wind tower for passive cooling, cross ventilation, passive solar shading, rain water collection and filtration, and considers the use of PV cells at close proximity to the structure, storage space for the generator and composting toilet as solutions to the challenge of designing an off-grid microhome. 

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Some cities in India such as Sri Ganganagar or Jhansi in Rajasthan, have high temperatures recorded up to 50 degrees Celsius. This design serves similar areas, with hot and dry climates ;a key driver for re-examining the historic methodology behind wind towers.  The concept behind the Coolhouse is a 2 storey twisting air shaft that acts as a wind tower to catch the cooler prevailing high level wind and funnel it down to purge the lower levels of the dwelling. 

The location of the dwelling has dry / hot climatic conditions, a key driver for re-examining the historic methodology behind wind towers.  The concept behind the COOLHOUSE is a 2 storey twisting air shaft that acts as a wind tower to catch the cooler prevailing high level wind and funnel it down to purge the lower levels of the dwelling.