Oblique Ville

Oblique Ville caters to a diverse section of the rapidly expanding population; a true vertical village that will house around 200 people. These modular dwellings made out of CLT, aim to house the young professionals attracted to the city The pressure to expand faster with more high-density, low-individuality housing is undisputed. Apartments ranging from 36 sq. metres to 72 sq. metres are mixed together, a diversity enabled by the building’s mountainous form and the shifting floor plates that it generates.

The building is oriented in the North-South directions facilitating wide views from the apartments while capturing diffused north light and reducing heat gains. The housing units look onto the central courtyard at ground level and subsequent green terraces on various levels. While the courtyard is a private space and a sanctuary for residents, it can still be seen from the outside, creating a visual connection to the greenery from outside while also providing an inviting access point. Recessed balconies on the main facades of the building hint towards the diversity of the modular homes inside. The strong graphical appearance created by the balconies is accentuated by the seamless sloping profile of the terraces on the other two edges.

Corridors allow for self-shading on the facades reducing heat gains further. A composite wall is created from two layers of 150mm CLT plates with rockwool insulation sandwiched in-between. This allows the heavy mass of timber to deliver the same acoustic quality and vibration absorption as concrete. The facade is brought to life through the negatives left from the prefabricated models and the left out pieces from interlocking joineries. An envelope is developed that provides ample shading and also houses Photovoltaic panels on the face facing south.

The timber for Oblique Ville will be manufactured off site in a factory setting and transported during the construction phase to the site, producing a quick assembly of CLT sheets and ensuring a cost and time effective building process. The prefabricated CLT modules used for the design, will be produced using CNC machines and industrial robots within the factory.

The residential modules come to life through a network of interlocking members at various junctions between the walls and the floor slabs respectively. The individual interlocking junctions between the walls act as substitutes for the typical columns in framed constructions. These nodes take point loads equally well, if not better than columns.

Concrete and steel has densified cities to previously unthinkable heights, and plastic reconstituted the architectural interior and the building economy along with it. It is timber’s durability, renewability, and capacity for sequestering carbon—rather than release it—that inspires the building industry to heavily invest in its future. Oblique Ville is a prime example of how CLT could provide the alternative to the unsustainable construction practices.