small projects

safari roof house

two storey bungalow.

The safari roof house was
named after the configuration
of a roof used in the Series-
type Land Rovers, one made of
aluminium sheet and raised off
the body of the vehicle - the
general idea being that of cross-
ventilation and common sense
to replace synthetic insulation
in the roof of the vehicle. For
the house, the safari roof took
form as a pure sunbreak of
corrugated bituminous sheet,

The house is gathered around
the tree-filled courtyard of a
cooling sink. its precast cement
vent block elevations facing
west and large glazed openings
east for morning sun, With its
surfaces conceived and made to
evidence age as an integral part
of its architecture, the house
marked an early attempt in a
search for aesthetics perhaps
more appropriate to a tropical
monsoon paradigm.