Goals
Background
Current residential designs often overlook the needs of these particular groups and need more focus on their quality of life. It is urgent to incorporate the needs of the aging population, empty nesters, and chronic disease patients into the residential design to create more humane and adaptable living environments that provide them with a better quality of life and well-being. Therefore, this project demonstrates the concept of a better living space and rehabilitation device for people with disabilities or health issues.
Relevance to Gateway Decathlon
Project M.E.S.H. responds to Gateway Decathlon's general goals, stimulating design innovations and promoting advanced off-site construction methodologies. The idea of designing a healthcare home not only responds to the increasing elderly population suffering from disabilities and chronic diseases but also showcases sustainable living and a latent commercial housing product.
Function and Layout
M.E.S.H. includes the public area, the wellness area, the living space, and the therapeutic garden. The wellness area centers around the therapeutic garden and serves as the core of the design, meeting the needs of the disabled group to enhance their quality of life while separating the house's public and private spaces.
Volumetric Module
M.E.S.H. includes the public area, the wellness area, the living space, and the therapeutic garden. The wellness area centers around the therapeutic garden and serves as the core of the design, meeting the needs of the disabled group to enhance their quality of life while separating the house's public and private spaces.
To achieve transportation efficiency and reduce cost, M.E.S.H. adopts a reconfigurable volumetric modular design. The 11 modules are loaded into shipping containers in China and transported to the port. After reaching a port in the United States, the modules are transported to Saint Louis and hoisted from the containers to the site.
Modular Design of Rain Garden
In M.E.S.H., the underground rainwater collection system is a core element for low-energy outdoor design. The technical approach involves a modular underground energy loop system that efficiently transports, stores, and reuses rainwater without additional power. This environmentally friendly device eliminates the costs and resources needed for conventional water transport and storage.
Marketing
Project M.E.S.H. considers diverse residential market demands according to various scales, costs, and spatial densities. The competition plan focuses on the independent house, while three other house types are developed based on condo and apartment styles: single-floor units, multi-floor with one elevator serving two units, and multi-floor with one elevator serving four units .
