BMDesign's naturally ventilated house uses tesla solar cells to form a controllable skin

BMDesign‘s ‘alavi house’ is located in the city of isfahan in iran, set at the foothills of the zagros mountain range on the edge of the desert. it has an arid climate with little rainfall and high temperatures. isfahan remains hot during the summer, however, with low humidity and moderate temperatures at night, the climate can be very pleasant. during the winter, days are mild while nights can be very cold. winds blow from west and south west. winds from south west blow the whole year, while winds from west blow from march to may and august to october.

the building’s double skin closes itself during summer, while at night it opens to naturally ventilate the house

with a roof tilted towards the east, iranian based office BMDesign creates effective zones of negative pressure at the climax of the roof helping to ventilate the building naturally throughout most of the year. controllable vents, at the climax of the roof have a sucking effect, together with the large openings to the south of the building. air filters by flowing through a broken line of evergreen trees, over a pool in the outdoors and then by passing over an indoor garden of snake plants, which is known to be a great air purifier, and finally over a pond.

the north façade provides more privacy, while to the south it opens towards the orchard and mountain views

the large glass façade to the south with insulated glazing, invites light and views of the cherry orchard and mountains. the communal spaces on ground floor lead up to a hallway with a library and a small bar on the first floor. both bedrooms enjoy good views of the front landscape and the orchard open up to this space.

this picture shows the relation between the inner openings and outer solar double skin in its cooling mode

the home is finished in concrete except for the double skin on the sloped roof which is finished in new invisible tesla solar cells. the sloped roof will provide a large continuous surface for installing solar panels 30 cm above the roof, creating a double skin which can be opened or closed. during the cold winter days, the double skin roof opens itself to let the afternoon sun shine on the concrete roof and warm it up, while during the hot summer days, it closes itself to provide shade over the concrete roof as well as to produce clean energy by its solar cells.

cool western breeze passes over a filter that consists of water and an indoor garden of snake plants

the interior void

the south façade is transparent and invites the views and light in, creating a pressure to suck the western breeze in

during spring and summer nights, the solar skin opens itself to let the house ventilated naturally

master bedroom with a window towards the south façade

main hall and study area in the first floor

the solar skin opens itself completely and pool outside will form the building’s outdoor filtering system

site analysis

ground floor plan

section

project info:

architect or architecture firm: BMDesign Studios, babak mostofi sadri
office website: www.bmsadri.com
contact email: [email protected]
completion year: idea
built area: 550 square meters
project location: isfahan, iran
type: residential
client: mr. and mrs. alavi
architect in charge: babak mostofi sadri
interior design: dena bakhtiari
design team: dena bakhtiari, nazanin esfahanian, marzieh rezazadeh, soha k. poul
structural engineer: sina rostami
manufacturers / products : tesla, flos, nsv

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edited by: apostolos costarangos | designboom