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Housing for urban professionals brings the office even closer to home
The concept of telecommuting is evolving, which includes the assumption that the worker is mobile and might be working from different locations at different times, invariably, the home and the office. This concept of SOHO living embraces cutting costs on rent, living space, furnishing and travel / commute time. The project creates a solution which involves careful design of two prototypes for different categories of urban professionals in Lagos, Nigeria.
The high-rise apartments contain 3 different prototypes, namely, the 3-bedroom maisonette, 2-bedroom apartment, and 1-bedroom loft apartments. The other prototype, the semi-formal heavy-work pods are single blocks of row houses with alternating entrances and rear gardens. To enhance working conditions within these developments, skylighting techniques were fully explored. Sun-shading is provided by luxalon panels to enhance sun-blocking on the eastern sides of the lofts.
Alternate sources of energy are explored to reduce dependence on fossil fuel for power generation. Solar panels lined-up on each level of the lofts are inclined to receive maximum sunlight. The overall value of the interior spaces is increased by the introduction of natural daylighting, supported by artificial lighting. Since the average occupant spends a large percentage of their time indoors, it is imperative to design for visual and thermal comfort.
The amazing thing about this design is that each furniture piece in the SOHO lofts and heavy-work pods are designed to be flexible and serve dual purposes. In essence, this project through design, expresses an acceptable model of urban living for professionals whose work-life is forged around doing more while away from the conventional office settings. Giving its users flexibility over time spent commuting from home to work every day, the SOHO lofts define a new way of meeting an ever-demanding urban professional lifestyle through architecture.
Click the HERE to view the animation of the project.
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