Prefabrication experiments - 173 - Geometries - 04 - Pond Inlet «Y» house

The Nissen and the Quonset hut are examples of directing unsophisticated barrel vault geometry to building construction. The form resistant semi-circular half pipe arching steel structures were employed for military hangars or storage and also marginally as dwelling prototypes. The tied-down half cylinder composed of arched steel sections covered in corrugated cold rolled steel performs, physically, as an extruded compressive arch. Its curvature is braced by either foundations or tie beams acting as abutments.  A variant, the complete cylinder, tube or whole pipe has also been explored as a type of ready made architecture. 

Severe settings, framed by either harsh climates or problematic access or both, require inventive housing strategies that can be constructed with minimal disturbance while optimizing performance.  Both the half and whole pipe have an intrinsic structural capacity and can be easily assembled. These properties and a potential for generating geometric patterns is displayed by a Y shaped pipe house designed by architect Richard Charbonnier on Pond Inlet, Nunavut. Situated in Nunavut’s Baffin Island (69˚N72˚W) the prototype is a result of the architect’s continuing research and exploration into arctic dwellings.

Fusing three aluminum barrel / cylinder structures into a Y shape, the structure hovers over the arctic expanse.  The Y is anchored to three concrete piles with tripod connectors. The pipe’s curves reduce wind resistance and the snow (heaps/piles) habitually produced on the leeward side of standard prismatic arctic building types. Resembling a perched culvert ready to be completed into some type of plumbing infrastructure, the cylinders play more than an aesthetic role distributing heat evenly and the seamless eaves and joints reduce weak points ensuring complete weather tightness. 

Inspired by the Igloo and elevated over the shifting permafrost, wall, roof and floor are protected by a seamless aerodynamic windshield.  The inhabitable Y fitting exposes particular details shaped by climatic demands. The projecting cylinders screen small porthole windows and doors reducing heat loss and establishing a type of antechamber against the stormiest of  40˚C days. A central skylight located at the Y’s intersection exposes a three-zoned plan allowing the arctic moon as well as the summer sun to punctuate the interior layout.

«Y» house in the arctic