HEXAGONAL HOUSES

The project area is near Ayia Napa, a small city in the South-West of Cyprus famous not only for the world’s biggest dance party but also for its tourist attractions: wonderful beaches and medieval architecture. Cyprus has an intensely Mediterranean climate with hot dry summers from mid-May to mid-September and rainy winters from November to mid-March. These are separated by quite short autumn and spring seasons of rapidly changing weather conditions, so the climate is mild and never reaches extreme temperatures, but during the summer months it can get quite hot; there is a persistent S-SW wind, which becomes stronger in summer. The aim of the project has been to create a structure protected from winds and sun and also to offer the best view of the sea; for these reasons, the complex has its particular hexagonal shape. The masterplan has been conceived layer by layer: The wooden footbridge is the link between the site and the project and is used to connect all the buildings of the complex. In each court the footbridge can became also an outdoor place to relax. Stone walls protect each court from the wind. The buildings on the hexagonal scheme are houses and in the middle of the area there are two service buildings where the reception, the bar, the restaurant and the sailing school are situated. The wooden roof covers each group of buildings like folded origami paper; its shape having been specifically studied to increase the view of the sea and to control the amount of solar radiation entering the building. The goal is to minimize solar radiation in summer and to increase it during winter time. Using a particular moveble shutter, the glass facade, which faces South and South-West, is shaded during the whole summer period and allows the sunlight to enter during wintertime. The façades are shaded by moveble shutters so as to allow people to modulate the natural lighting inside the building.