STUDENT HOUSING AT SEDE-BOQER - A GEOMETRIC RESPONSE TO DESERT CONDITIONS

The student housing complex at the Institute for Desert Research in Sede-Boqer, Israel, is presented as a building whose form is dictated by the local climatic conditions of the Negev desert. Emphasis is placed on the geometry of the building envelope in relation to the thermal effects of solar radiation. The project's conceptual background and an analysis of the environmental constraints are followed by a description of the design strategies employed and an evaluation of their effectiveness in terms of several thermal performance criteria.