SIP Panel House

The SIP Panel House from Alejandro Soffia and Gabriel Rudolphy is the result of extensive research from the duo into prefabrication of low-cost housing and self-customisation. Having decided to create a constructive system from components already available in the construction market they took the Structural Insulated Panel (SIP) catalogue and studied its simple topology in order to define minimum spatial modules, which when multiplied and related could be used to build structures.

The house is conceived as an attempt to rationalise SIP as a construction material and achieve a maximum optimisation of its structural and dimensional qualities. The totality of the house was configured with two kinds of components: wall panels (122 x 244 x 11.4 mm) and split-level panels (122 x 488 x 21 mm). In just 10 days, 71 wall panels and 40 split-level panels were built with a negligible loss of material.

Through the configuration of spatial modules comprising of two wall panels and two split-level panels, inhabitable spaces measuring 6 square meters were built. These spaces are the result of multiplying these volumes along the length of their transversal axis according to standard surfaces of use. The house is comprised of the sum of these different spaces.

The spaces are grouped according to traditional programmatic similarities, and are united by a central circulation system with the principal rooms clustered toward the north, in the quest for an ocean view. The panels exposed on the exterior are fashioned as terraces on the second and third floors. The eastern façade of the house, close to a neighbour, is more closed-off, and the western façade opens up to the light and the view. The northern and southern faces of the house, as well as the terraces, are enveloped in a wooden skin.

The SIP Panel House
Architects: Alejandro Soffia, Gabriel Rudolphy
Location: Santo Domingo, Chile
Client: Vicente Hidd
Budget: USD$966 per square metre
Constructed Area: 139 square metres
Project year: 2011