Project
The Nightingale House

Category 
Best Project of Private Residence

About the project
«
The Nightingale» house project is located within an agricultural farm. Its geometry, resembling the wings of a bird with two parabolic vaults joined in a cross, generates a highly rigid structure that works mostly in compression, despite of it's light look. That allows to build it with clay bricks and lime based mortar almost entirely, reducing the use of materials with a much higher carbon footprint, such as cement and steel. The mezzanine will be a Catalan vault, leaving the reinforced concrete only for specific bracing elements of the structure and foundations. The design is also inspired by traditional solutions of Cuban tropical and vernacular architecture, with the use of the interior patio as a thermal regulator, stained glass windows to filter light to the east, clay coats that protect from the sun the walls and fenestrations to the west, and even the shape of the building, that is a reminiscence of the «Vara en tierra» of the Cuban fields.

Location
Caimito, Artemisa, Cuba

Project design year
2021

More project images
https://www.instagram.com/p/COOf_6FDKcD/?igshid=1lolswglvxxn2

Project video
https://www.instagram.com/p/COOfO4dDDzS/?igshid=1cwc4ewlad39i

Applicant and author of the project
Eric Cordero Hernández, Cuban architect concerned about sustainability, that aims to reduce the environmental impact of human constructions and their subsequent exploitation.