House Suliman
Juba, Sudan
Based on traditional house forms of the Saharan region, House Suliman is designed as a contemporary single family compound. Single rooms of various purpose – reception, living, eating, cooking, working and sleeping – are arranged in a way that connection and relation between each other is always possible but also avoidable if necessary.
Awards | Press
2011 Residential Architect Design Award
2006 AIA VA, Excellence in Architecture
2006 Residential Architect, Sept-Oct
© Studio Twenty Seven Architecture
The center of the one story home is a double height living room that divides the lot into two separate areas according to the Owner’s needs of domain and privacy. The main living room may remain open most of the time, with boundaries between the two courtyards almost invisible.
The location of every room reflects the hierarchy of its purpose within the compound. While the living room and the reception room dominate in the center of the compound, the master bedroom and the kitchen are located in the back of Lot#46, sharing a small private courtyard as a living area with the central building. The family and guest bedrooms, on the other hand, are situated along the main courtyard, sharing this rather public space as a living area with the central building. The bathrooms are separated from the rest of the dwelling by small laundry-courtyards, which act as natural air filters. Open but covered hallways are designed as a present part of the living space; however, they can be separated temporarily as connector or porch spaces if needed. A 4 m high wall wraps the entire compound along its boundaries providing structural support, shadow and privacy.
Based on traditional housing typologies of the region House Suliman is designed as a contemporary single-family compound. Single rooms of various purposes , such as reception, living, eating, cooking, working, sleeping are arranged in a way that a connection between each space is always possible but also avoidable if necessary.
When cold air drifts downward at night, it is caught by the open courtyards and funneled into the surrounding bedrooms and living room. The exterior and interior masonry walls serve as energy reservoirs by cooling down at night and maintaining lower interior temperatures while the outside temperature rises during the day. Throughout the day, the almost constant south-west wind (or north-east wind during the dry season) is caught by the higher structure, after being filtered and humified by vegetation, and provides a fresh breeze into the living area. Additional air and water filters may be provided to humify and to cool the passing air within the building.
