Seaside Building Design: Principles and Practice

Generally, it is found that the coastal climate is less severe than that of the inland and is therefore considered preferable for living. Every meteorological zone is unique which must be taken into consideration by architects.

The book collected 11 different locations globally where communities are living by the sea. Each location has its own characteristics, and architects and city planners have to take into consideration the ground position, height above the sea level, and the seasonal climate. In most cases, it is more comfortable to be closer to the sea than away from it, but in some parts of Norway, for example, this was not the case. Building materials can play major part in creating comfort in some locations. The editor recommends fully to treat each location based on its merits and to design a dwelling to be comfortable throughout the year with minimum use of electricity or active energy.

In the creation of the beach house at Bexhill, we aimed to present a property with dual concerns: a simultaneous reflection of the natural coastal surroundings which provide the house with its idyllic views and the sleek modernist concepts of flowing yet functional design aesthetic. The aim was to marry a snatch of 1950s Californian glamour with all the practicalities and necessities of a contemporary family home. Environment was an equally important factor, both in terms of the beach house’s visual external qualities and its interior functionality. We strived to devise a property that would mould to its environs, reflecting the cool colours of the sea and shingle coast line, whilst nodding retrospectively, in exterior appearance, to its sustainable construction.

The actual levels of the ambient air temperature, solar radiation and wind can be modified by the design details of the outdoor spaces (Givoni et al. 2003; Al-Sallal 2016a). Air movement is considered one of the factors with special significance that is influencing thermal comfort. It is quite important, therefore, to study the effect of natural ventilation on outdoor thermal comfort and link it to different urban geometries. Moreover, and due to its major impact on building energy, ventilation plays a vital role in designing building systems, and it affects directly on the amount of building energy consumption. Ventilation is also required for breathing and removal of internally produced pollution and is used for cooling building structures especially in hot arid climates via night ventilation (Kazmerski et al. 1998). Seral issues will be discussed relating to ventilation in hot humid climate like UAE.

This article summarizes the geographical location of the Netherlands and the continued struggle to avoid flood yet managed to build excellent buildings. It outlined the strategic principle of having sustainable architecture by using the 3Ps: people, planet, and profit. Then, energy, material, and water were discussed in several projects described in this chapter.

Coastal cities exist in different parts of the world. Such cities are facing enormous challenges. One of the major challenges is how these cities adapt to severe events caused by climate change impacts. According to the IPCC climate model prediction, many cities, such as Miami (Florida), Brighton (UK),Venice (Italy), Barcelona (Spain), and Istanbul (Turkey), as well as Tunis (Tunisia), Alexandria and Port Saeed (Egypt), and Dubai (United Arab Emirates), are vulnerable to climate change risks. Climate change impact on waterfront libraries in seaside cities has been addressed. These libraries could face serious risks from severe events caused by climate change such as heatwaves, storms, and floods as well as landslides that manifested in many cities during the past decade. This chapter highlights the impact of the severe events that have hit Alexandria in the past 3 years. This book chapter presents a study conducted on the sustainability of public buildings located in seaside cities with reference to a study carried out on the New Library of Alexandria (New Bibliotheca Alexandrina – BA), Egypt. This study focused on the assessment of the New Library of Alexandria in terms of sustainability principles and measures. Also, this chapter highlights the classification of the best 25 coastal cities in the world in reference to the living conditions, quality of life and seaside libraries around the world. Libraries that are overlooking seaside or waterfront areas (rivers) were illustrated and discussed mainly those in the United States, Denmark and Australia. The description of the four waterfront libraries includes a set of features such as (i) concept and form, (ii) spatial experience, (iii) building’s conditions and (iv) environmental sustainability. Special emphasis was given to the sustainability features in Library at the Dock, Australia. The classification of libraries, whether educational buildings, public libraries or owned by institutions, is reviewed. Moreover, the framework for public libraries’ design is developed and presented with emphasis on many features, including sustainability. To develop public libraries, it is vital to understand five main issues to guarantee effective and efficient design and to ensure sustainability. This framework includes (a) context, (b) design features, (c) structure and technology, (d) climate change mitigation techniques and (e) sustainability measures. The New Library of Alexandria (New BA) was assessed and analysed in terms of the aforementioned issues to highlight the integrated sustainability features and measures. The visit to and assessment of the New BA showed that the library has illustrated a great deal of sustainability principles integrated in the building, primarily in the main reading hall and the site.

Portugal mainland has 1230 Km of coast, almost half of its borders. The human pressure upon the seacoast is a growing phenomenon – recent estimates show that more than 80% of the population will live in these coastal areas in the near future. This human pressure upon the coast is a true challenge in terms of sustainable development (cf. Fig. 6.1). It often leads to the degradation of the living space, and valuable natural resources. Also, global warming is a serious threat for seaside areas, with the increase in frequency and intensity of extreme phenomena such as strong winds and hurricanes, floods, and sea level rise. The following chapters will present an overview on the evolution and present situation of seaside building in Portugal, both at urban and building level, showing good and bad examples, and pointing out best practice design strategies.

Coasts represent the meeting point between land and the sea, giving access to resources from both the sides. For this reason, a mixed economy is generally a specific characteristic of areas proximal to the seaside (Høyem, Coastal, location and site. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1997). Throughout history, the Norwegian coast played a fundamental role for the socioeconomic development of the country. Vikings were nomad warriors spending large part of their life on the sea and establishing villages in those parts of the coast where climatic conditions were still favorable for farming. Until the late middle age, fishing activities were a less common practice than it is today and were often run by wealthy families, generally owning entire settlements on the northern part of the country. Climatic conditions along the coast were generally more extreme than in the inland because of the larger exposure to strong winds and rain. Part of the buildings ... along the coast were therefore inhabited during the fishing season only, when cods coming from the ocean would deposit their eggs along the coasts of Lofoten.

With the industrialization of fishing activities, economic poles throughout the coast, such as Svolvær, started to attract a larger community of people settling down for the whole year. Today circa 80%  of the Norwegian population live at a distance of maximum 10 km from the seaside (Miljøstatus, 2017). Technological development of materials made it possible to build more resistant building components, able to cope with the adverse climatic conditions of the Norwegian seaside. This gave also more freedom in localizing buildings in the landscape, in a tighter connection with nature and view. However, phenomena related to climate change are rising a high degree of uncertainty related to the climatic stress to which the built environment will be exposed in the near future. Climatic charts, developed in order to give evidence of risks due to a stronger environmental stress, represent a valid tool for the architectural design of climate-adaptive buildings (Klima2020). Besides the existence of ready-made solutions, architects are called in their projects to develop site-specific solutions, using climatic elements as a fundamental basis for their environmental performance optimization.

The Mediterranean islands are characterized by ecosystems and environmental heritage of great value. Human experience is one of the most critical barometers of the success of a built environment. In a perspective of sustainable development, it becomes necessary to stimulate the regenerative capacity of territories and natural resources. The six pilot projects have been developed for a small island in Sardinia, Italy. The island has hosted several prison complexes in the past two centuries, now converted into a national park; since its creation as a national park, its architectural and urban patrimony has been completely abandoned. Its few built-up areas and/or urban developments do have an enormous potential, but past administrations failed in the attempt to offer a commercially attractive model.

In March 1995, the ITER (Instituto Tecnológico y de Energías Renovables), along with the Excellent Island Government of Tenerife (Cabildo Insular de Tenerife), launched an international competition for 25 bioclimatic dwellings to be built in Tenerife, Canary Islands, homologated by the International Union of Architects (UIA). The International Tender counted on the College of Architects of the Canary Islands to organize a call for preliminary projects of 25 one-family dwellings located in an area within the Wind Park of Tenerife, near the sea, at the south-east of the island (Fig. 9.1). The inception of the competition can be traced back to 1995, in the Summit of the Earth in Rio de Janeiro (1992). One of the key points of this meeting was to make a statement concerning the protection of the environment (General Assembly of the United Nations 2012). Consequently, the projects in Tenerife were to be designed following bioclimatic principles adapted to the climatic conditions (López de Asiaín 2001) of the island’s seaside environment. Moreover, the integration of recycled and recyclable materials was encouraged, as well as the use of renewable energy systems.

Only in recent time, China discovered the great potential of coastal cities as tourist attraction, both from inland and from abroad. The projects are examples of a study of Green Eco Solar Buildings and Seaside Building Project, developed within the ABITA Research Centre of the University of Florence, for this area, developed together with the De Feng Lida Group from Beijing, trying to harmonize traditional Chinese approach with sustainable technologies and renewable energy integration in building. The energy efficiency standards applied in all the Green Eco Solar Buildings will make it possible to realize nearly zero-energy building performance.

These nine chapters highlight the various approaches adopted by the authors taking into account the particular climate zones of the areas in which they were constructing seaside dwellings. Aspects that had to be given urgent attention were the requirement for building sustainability, comfort, and mitigation of the very real impact of climate change and the importance of the utilisation of renewable energy.