Social Housing In Limassol, a house with courtyard

EP Architects Social Housing of Cyprus Land Development Corporation in Pano Polemidia (Limassol, Cyprus).

This project is the 1st award in the second international architectural competition of the Cyprus Land Development Corporation for Social Housing in the area of Pano Polemidia in Limassol City. 

This residential development consist of 28 houses in the form of row houses. The houses are organised in two levels and are designed on the basis of two typologies of attached and semi-detached houses of 125 and 145 sq.m. each. Placed next to the increasing market rate rentals of Limassol, this winning architectural design for the Social Housing project in Limassol is based on the idea of holistic sustainability approach with a socially beneficial and financially sustainable solution that communicates to its users the essence of traditional architecture and social space. The aim of the design proposal is dual. First aim, is the introduction of common pedestrian space that will encourage social interaction, with the use of a linear park between the row houses and the public street. The percentage of green areas for vegetation holds around the 20% of the plot area and the design of common space takes in mind the greater master plan of the built and un-built social housing units including their public green park where it leads into. Public space needs to be implemented more strategically and widely in the Cypriot urban landscape because of its influence in the cohesion of urban context and the mental-physical well-being of users. The second aim is the contemporary reinterpretation of the Cypriot traditional type of ‘’house with courtyard’’ which is appropriate for the Mediterranean climate. The serial and narrow arrangement of the 28 houses accommodated the application of the above goals. Main concept of this proposal is the extension of interior into the external open spaces with the use of 3 types of yards. The first, is a covered yard at the entrance of the house from the street where the kitchen extends into. The setting of this yard is considered the most appropriate to relate with the common area of the linear park. The next open space is the central courtyard at the core of domestic activities and the third yard where the living room extends into is more private. The volumetric approach of the units aims to create a unified design with organic micro-differentiation in voids and colour, a morphology that is the result of the set-up of houses either in a replicated or in a mirrored fashion. The colouring of the walls on the facades facing the perimeter of the blocks follows a scheme with slide differentiation of brown colors while the facades of the central courtyard can be painted by the residents at a color of their selection. Several waves of urbanization in Cypriot cities since 1920s in combination with the absence of urban design strategy have led to their expansion on the basis of detached houses. This has produced dysfunctional low urban density for the development of public infrastructures like public transportation while the shopping malls at the cities outskirts have led to the decline of commercial city centres. With the design of this unified residential development we demonstrate a solution with density and urban functionality where the introduction of shared space and the linear park will manifest with the vitality of urban public space.

Cyprus Architects Association link : (https://architecture.org.cy/a%ce%84-vraveio-architektonikou-diagonismou-sygkrotimatos-koinonikis-katoikias-sta-pano-polemidia-stin-eparchia-lemesou/)