Marsa Alam, Red Sea Governorate, Egypt
Private Beach House
This private Beach House is a three-bedroom single story structure. It is mainly built from load-bearing coral lime stones that have been repurposed from discarded limestone from nearby roadworks . The project is powered by an on-site solar station built by KarmSolar and has been designed using passive architectural design strategies to enhance its performance and drastically reduce energy consumption. A wind catcher next to a solar chimney act as a physical pair of lungs for the house ensuring that natural air flows in and out of the house when needed. A secondary wall surrounding the south-exposed portions of the house provides an extra layer of protection and a crucial cooling aid in summer. Thick load-bearing earth walls made of coral limestone help regulate temperatures during all seasons, cooling the indoor environment in summer and retaining the heat during winter nights. The design ensures that every space gets full and unobstructed views of the Red Sea.
Project info
- Construction phase
- New construction
- Building type
- Single Family House (SFH)
- Detailed building type
- Single Family House (SFH) - detached
- Net floor area
- 245 m2
- Land plot size
- 580 m2
- Stories
- 1 story
- Construction type
- Load Bearing Masonry
- Original construction year of the building
- 2018
- Project contact
- Farah Faheem
- Contact email address
- farah.faheem@karmsolar.com
Project team
- Developer(s)/owner(s)
- Private
- Architect(s)
- KarmBuild
- Construction contractor(s)
- KarmBuild
- Energy efficiency consultant(s)
- KarmBuild
- HVAC consultant(s)
- KarmBuild
- Building services
- KarmBuild
- Other project team partners
- Civil Consult (Structural Consultant)
- Additional information
- KarmBuild provided the architecture, interior design consultancy, and project construction management.
Building Rating and Certifications systems
- Rating and certifications systems
- Not applicable
Building Envelope
External walls
- Description of construction
- Retaining wall supported platform with embedded foundations, eliminating any excavations respecting the coral limestone formations. 90% of the walls are exposed load-bearing coral limestone from 60 to 40cm thick. The rest are 25cm red brick masonry.
- U-Value
- 1.05 W/(m²*K)
Roof
- Roof type
- Flat roof
- Description of construction
- A typical 20cm thick reinforced concrete slab roof structure. The layers from the inside to the outside are: wood frames, reinforced concrete, foam insulation, light concrete, sand, cement and cladding.
- U-Value
- 0.389 W/(m²*K)
Openings and windows
- Glazing type
- Double glazed
- U-Value glass
- 2.8 W/(m²*K)
- G-Value glass
- 0.5
- Frame material / description
- Aluminum
- Overall u-value window
- 2 W/(m²*K)
- Description of construction
- 2-panel sliding aluminum window frames.
Basement floor
- Description of construction
- Reinforced concrete base with (water proofing + insulation and thickness) + (finishes)
- U-Value
- 1.98 W/(m²*K)
Technical Building Systems
Ventilation system
- Type of ventilation
- Free ventilation (windows)
- Description
- free ventilation (windows), a wind catcher tower and a solar chimney tower. Cooling and ventilation improvements in summer due to windcatcher and solar chimney are over 25% in terms of hours within the comfort range.
Lighting system
- Primary lighting system
- LED (Light emitting diode lamps)
- Efficiency
- 100
- Description
- Typical LED lights
Shading devices
- Type of shading system installed
- Static (fix) shading systems as part of the building architecture (e.g. Maschrabiyya, porch roofs, pergolas)
- Manufacturer(s) / products
- Locally manufactured
Photovoltaics
- Description
- The project is powered by an on-site solar station built by KarmBuild's sister company KarmSolar
Other technical building systems
- Description
- The project is powered by an on-site solar station built by Karmbuild's sister company KarmSolar. No PVs are installed on the building itself.
- Manufacturer(s) / products
- KarmSolar
Final Energy Demand
- Energy carrier (1)
- Electricity
- Annual lighting demand
- 18.1 kWh/(m²*a)
- Annual hot water demand
- 10.3 kWh/(m²*a)
- Total specific final energy demand
- 49.01 kWh/(m²*a)
Financial Aspects
- Project construction cost
- 89240 EUR
