Amidst the dry and arid city of Bharuch in Gujarat, there exists a remarkable house that defies the norm of blasting coolers and air conditioners to beat the heat. Unlike most households, this unique abode manages to remain comfortably cool without any of these devices.
A 10-15 degree Celsius difference is impressive but I’m never going to call 35° (95° F) cool.
The house, which is built on a 10,500 sq ft area, has a unique design structure that allows the wind to pass through the home.
Samira explains, “I had a passive energy design in mind for the house. The air in Bharuch is cool during certain times and we wanted to use that. We created a channel running across the northeast and southwest for the wind to pass through,” she says.
Built on a track-like design with rooms on either side of the house, there are courtyards that help the wind circulate. “Even if the wind is slightly warm, the air passes through a water body that we created on the south side and cools down. This air in turn cools the entire house down,” she says.
Samira continues, “Besides the channel, another thing that helps to bring down the temperature is the terrace garden with another small water body. This cools the second floor down along with the running channel, the courtyard with a jali structure on one end of it.”
To combat the heat, the house utilises 18-inch thick external walls and a soothing lime plaster interior, effectively keeping the rooms cool and breezy.
To combat the heat, the house utilises 18-inch thick external walls and a soothing lime plaster interior, effectively keeping the rooms cool and breezy.
Yeah, 18 inch thick adobe walls work great in the Arizona heat as well. But it costs an arm and a leg to build.
Building into the side of a hill, or 5 feet down into the soil also works well. Or burying a water tank that you then pump through the walls/floor to cool the place, similar to some under floor heating systems.
There are a number of ways to deal with heat passively, or actively without resorting to direct cooling methods, but all of them either require a bespoke piece of land, or custom architecture and floorplans. Or you can just overpower it with Evaporative Cooling and/or Air Conditioning regardless of the rest. There’s a reason that’s the go to answer.
Sweet, when I have a gajillion dollars I can build one just like it.
A lot of houses here in colombia are built in the same way. I much prefer this way than AC drying out the air and making it smell bad.
If the AC makes the air smell bad, it’s time to clean/replace the filters. A properly working AC has no effect on the smell of the air at all.
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Her trick: super thick walls
The result: not breezy, hot afUnless you’re a lava monster you do not want to live in that bunker
