GUESTHOUSE AND TRAININGCENTER FOR ORGANIC

DESERT AGRICULTURE
location :El Dakhla arch: Hend el dahan
The main design criteria were the following: CULTURAL AND
LOCAL CONFORMITY – Fit in with appropriate traditional
local respecting the integrity of the place and the culture of it’s
people. SOCIAL INTERACTION – Providing indoor and
outdoor spaces for social interaction between the different
visitors to the center while valuing everyone’s privacy.
CLIMATE – Surviving in the hot arid desert climate without the
need for an AC by using the prevailing
wind and implementing a few simple principles of
aerodynamics. BUILDING MATERIAL – local, appropriate,
sustainable, cost effective Concrete & Steel were ruled out as
building materials as they have long transportation routes, are
expensive and are neither climatic nor culturally appropriate.
The red burnt brick is cost efficient and locally available, as
there is a brick factory 5 km   away from the building site.
When built in wall bearing technique the wall will provide
sufficient thermal mass to adapt to variations of temperature.
So far, all visitors to the center agree that even during the
hottest days the prevailing winds, together with the thermal
insulating mass of the walls create a rather pleasant climate
inside the building and its courtyard even during the hot desert
days. All the buildings are designed, planned and built in the
wall bearing construction technique using the red burnt brick
for walls and ceilings. All ceilings (ground floor and upper
floor) are exclusively built with red bricks using the traditional
techniques of vaults and domes. Concrete has only been used
in the foundations.
One of the other projects Hend El Dahan presented at the
ArchVisionprize is the Solar Decathlon House of the Technical
University of Darmstadt (TUD). The Solar Decathlon is an
architectural and engineering competition organized by the US
Ministry of Energy for universities worldwide.