The design of the courtyard, it is a solution that has ancient roots,
it's not necessarily about darkness but it is about the relationship between light and dark.
The sense that the material was there before us and could happily remain there after we have gone,
helps us create that sense of timelessness which is very important in our work.
My name is Andrea Quagliola and along with Matteo Monteduro and Emiliano Roia,
we are the founders and directors of MORQ. I also like to introduce Mark Jecks who is the
project leader of the Cloister House I which is the house that we're looking at today.
The Floreat is a interesting part of town which is a combination of proximity to parks it's a
kind of lovely neighbourhood from a kind of human perspective but particularly where we are here is
a kind of high traffic highway which needs to somehow inform the response of the project.
The brief was very interesting for us, for a growing family of two but different from
what one might expect because the family of two is the grandparents that have adult children,
having a family on their own and then you know become the kind of
main visitors and guests of this house. We kind of split the program in in two parts,
one is the space for two living areas and the main bedrooms that relate to the
central courtyard and the space for the visiting family that relates to the rear of the property.
Entering the house you go through a progression, the main two public spaces, one is the dining room
and one is the main living room they look into the outdoor vegetated courtyard area, then moving out
from that common area there's a small threshold around the corner, you encounter the kitchen
which is a sort of generous space connecting the living areas and the main bedroom area
so the kitchen is thought of as a sort of large veranda looking inside connecting the two spaces,
and then as you move out the kitchen and along the courtyard again, you go through the main bedroom
of which you have a walk-in robe which creates a nice kind of boundary towards the next property.
At the rear of the kitchen, two guest bedrooms the
shared bathroom and laundries and all the more functional parts of the house.
The idea of retreat and refuge was very much another aspect of the brief,
we felt like creating a fence with the program of the house and then leaving
the inside as a void in order to be able to open onto it from every direction and from
every room which is is also you know what create this peaceful retreating atmosphere.
The courtyard allows for control of quantity and quality of light.
It allows space that is open but also intimate, it works also very well from a climatic point of view
because the courtyard itself becomes like a large let's say range hood that sucks away all the hot
air and keeps that kind of cross ventilation supported throughout the summer months.
Materiality is a very important aspect of the work that we do,
we seek out materials that have an evocative quality, materials that are able to age
with the site and they have an ability of absorbing reflecting the sunlight as well.
Rammed concrete is made in a way that is not dissimilar from concrete,
it works more in layers as the mix is much drier and then needs to be pressed rather than mixed,
what it does it creates these pockets of air that are distributed within the wall
and those pockets generate a very long thermal leg, that thermal leg is really
effective from our energy perspective. In relation with the rammed earth is the use
of raw sawn timber what this does is capture again the light on the horizontal surface
that is not continuous. The imperfection of the timber creates a sense of rhythm,
the same timber was used to make all the windows which are sort of custom product for this house.
What a courtyard does is that creates shadows that kind of follow the light in a more precise and
engaging way so you really feel the passing of the day, you don't see the sky don't see the clouds
but you sense of a change of atmosphere within the space. The vegetation in this project contributes
to this interaction with the light so the sunlight goes bounces around in the courtyard and goes
through those kind of foliage and creates sort of dappled and moving lights throughout the house.
The most sustainable project is the project that never needs to be rebuilt. In our design we aim
for our projects to feel like not only they would be there but also they have been there
for a long time. I feel the atmosphere of this house, that sense of meditative,
nurturing at the same time not precious like a type of space that is robust that can take
the weather, the aging, this is is the most meaningful and powerful elements of the house.