Civitas Nexum

Timber is the new and trendy sustainable material in the construction industry and this project aims to research and explore the potential of timber.

From the site analysis research, two elements of the context influenced our design concept, namely the bridge and the East river. In accordance with the linearity of the bridge, we created two residential blocks creating a community space in between with an unblocked view of the waterfront.

An amorphous pavilion like permanent building is adjoined to one of the blocks, which houses the long span spaces like the indoor court, auditorium and pools. The roof of this amorphous building becomes a gated playground for the kindergarten and a community garden for the residents.

The roofs of the blocks have solar panels installed on them and the blocks are terraced towards the south direction and the roof is also slanted to an optimal angle in order to maximize the incident sunlight on the solar panels. There are operable louvres installed on the residential glass panels.

The entire ground floor is made of concrete and the upper residential floors are made of timber. This will also help to cope with future flood situations. The timber frame structural elements are made of glulaminated timber. The louvres are made of heat bent wood, which leaves it hollow on the inside, keeping it light and minimizing material usage.