Get a curved house for a unique look

Built on two floors, the home has a total of three bedrooms. Two of the bedrooms located on the ground floor share the general bathroom.  

In Summary

• The downside. “Even if the curved walls are easy, many other aspects, from surveying to carpeting, are much trickier. As is often the case tricky things are rather costly,” says Ronald Atwiine, a structural engineer.
• Tired of the monotony of shapes of houses in most neighbourhoods? This double curved house will give you a unique beautiful look.

By Carol B. Atangaza

We are so accustomed to conventional home designs that we feel lost when confronted with a plot that is curved. Yet when designed properly, a curved house can look and feel very appealing.

There is no doubt that this brings complexities and demands higher expertise to fit and construct. This remarkable house is a great example of a design forming a harmonious relationship with its property.
Architect Simon Peter Kazibwe from Royal Architects and Engineers designed this plan for a property that was tucked between two other properties.

“As a result, the design of the home was quite unique, incorporating curves from the house itself to the lawns,” Kazibwe explains.
So instead of forcing the plot into the traditional box shape which would have resulted in loss of precious inches, they opted to create a design that would fit overall shape to naturally reflect the curve of the property.

seek experise
Kazibwe says the steeply pitched roof helps create balance, giving the home an overall grounded, yet formal appearance.
“Constructing such a house is not easy and comes with lots of issues. You will need an experienced architect who knows how to work with the kinks,” he explains.
Built on two floors, the home has a total of three bedrooms. Two of the bedrooms located on the ground floor share the general bathroom.

The ground floor also accommodates the living room, kitchen, dining room, a store room and a breakfast nook that can be turned into a bar. The third bedroom, which is the master suite, takes up the entire first floor. It has an en suite bathroom, a dressing room and a private balcony. Estimated to cost between Shs85m and Shs95m, the design can fit perfectly on a 100X100ft or 100X50ft.

According to Ronald Atwiine, a structural engineer at Excite Construction, curved walls are not very affordable for wood construction, but they are a somewhat natural choice.
“But even if the curved walls are easy, many other aspects, from surveying to carpeting, are much trickier. As is often the case, tricky things are rather costly,” he observes.

He says constructing the walls and the foundation will be more difficult than digging a straight one. “Framing will a require curved track which costs more per foot than a straight track costs. Placing floor joists is more difficult because each joist is a different length and angle from the wall which end up being a lot more expensive,” he explains.

Bricks
Another notable expense is on the bricks. Curved masonry walls can be created by using either curved brick manufactured to a specific radius or by cutting standard brick to create a shorter inside length.
Using cut standard brick is more cost-effective than using radial brick. Whatever materials used, they should be able to correspond with the design of the building and make a single, solid unit.

In other words, the curved and complex shape have to be made in such a way that the architectural elements are minimised as much as possible to create fluidity and natural light.

editorial@ug.nationmedia.com