Designing a breathable ‘house with no windows’

Online Exclusive Feature, Residential / 2025

Designing a breathable ‘house with no windows’

January 15, 2025

To the layman, glass windows as an element of (contemporary) architecture may be taken for granted and considered to be a non-negotiable part of buildings. However, most traditional structures all over the world did not use glass—and rather relied on the finer construction details and placement of fenestrations to allow for good airflow throughout the building.

This rethinking of the role of fenestrations is what Onebulb+Kolam Architecture have achieved for the House of No Windows. Situated within a rowhouse complex in Panakudi, Tamil Nadu, India, the house manages to be ‘self-ventilated’ without using any publicly-facing windows, despite its setting within a dense neighbourhood where the roads are only 2.5 metres wide.

Upon the narrow and ‘enclosed’ plot, natural daylighting and ventilation is achieved through a combination of passive and active design features. This includes skylights, breeze block walls and wind chimneys with ‘aerovents’ that the team has devised. Three wind chimneys with skylights were designed to heat the air, placed above mini-courtyards where users are most likely to do their activities in. As hot air flows naturally upwards, it is pushed out through breeze blocks, aided by an exhaust fan that can be activated during especially hot days.

Fresh air is pulled in to circulate within the spaces through the aerovents, which have been specially designed with a cone-like opening that is smaller on one side. This shape enables the Joule-Thomson effect to take place, a thermodynamics phenomenon where the temperature of a gas lowers as it is contracting. By placing the smaller openings on the insides, hot air that passes through the aerovents can be cooled.

This combination of features has resulted in comfortable indoor temperatures according to the architect. For example, during the housewarming party, more than 15 people visited the house, and the spaces remained comfortable and airy even without the aid of fans or air-conditioning. “It was a breakthrough for my ideology in architecture, and that was when I felt that ‘we did it’,” recalled the architect.

After completion, the clients’ neighbours were excited to see a small house that was not only visually pleasing but also comfortably functional. “I think we have changed a myth of smaller houses for people, with the fact that smaller houses can be ‘heaven’ and that a house can be done without windows,” the architect said.


PROJECT DATA

Project Name   
House of No Windows @ Panakudi, India

Location
Panakudi, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India

Completion Date
April 2024

Site Area           
976 square feet (90 square metres)

Gross Floor Area            
1,068 square feet (99.2 square metres)

Number of Rooms         
2 bedrooms, hall and kitchen

Building Height
27 feet (8.2 metres)

Client/Owners 
Karthika; Nizhal Media

Architecture Firm
Onebulb+Kolam Architecture

Principal Architects       
P. Balavenkatesh B.Arch., L.L.B.; R. Hemkumar B.Arch.; S. Kowshik Nihalan B.Arch.; S. Karthigeyan B.Arch.

Main Contractor
Vallinayagam

Mechanical & Electrical Engineer
Onebulb+Kolam Architecture

Civil & Structural Engineer
Bala Structural Consultant

Quantity Surveyor
Vallinayagam

Landscape Architect
Onebulb+Kolam Architecture

Environmental Consultant
Onebulb+Kolam Architecture

Photos
Muthuraman S. (The Little Attic)


Read more stories from FuturArc 4Q 2024: Tempering Temperatures!

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