architectural reality of this community. The experience of entering the teepee by crouch- ing and then standing in the high conical interior is one of compression and expan- sion. In the living units, this phenomenon is echoed in the procession from outside to inside, and between the living spaces within. This (feeling of) expansion and compression delineates the public from private realms. The plans avoid the use of corridors. The central hall, between washroom, kitchen, and bedrooms is a multi-functional space for laundry, gallery and auxiliary kitchen space. Frost Bite The buildings hug the ground on their northern façades, and rise on the south to pull from the sun all available energy. The building section uses the aerodynamics of a wing. The low pressure created by turbulence on the leeward edge of the ridge promotes the evacuation of air from the roof cavity. Lack of ventilation in the roof cavity is a primary failure of the first generation of houses built in the northern climes. These houses are heated using electric radi- ant floor heating providing heat directly to the body and warming the lower strata of the interior volume. An engineered float- ing hardwood floor provides both visual and physical warmth to the interior. The woodburning stove is an auxiliary heat source which serves an important tradition in the everyday lives of the Cree. The wall and ceiling compositions are de- signed to provide a thermal resistance of R-38 and R-60 respectively, and the perimeter of the building has an eight-foot horizontal skirt of six inch rigid insulation. This perimeter skirt provides frost protection to the slab by slowing down heat loss generated in the slab (radiant heating), and from natural isotherms rising from the Earth. The exercise of developing the elevations, with the help of the building section, was pri- marily driven by the need to maximize solar gain and promote natural ventilation, while reducing heat-loss and winter glare.
the high south exposed verandah (Un- der construction)
Typical wall section
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on |site 13
housing | houses | house
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