This house turns inside out in summer

The D*Dynamic shape-shifting house was built using a mathematical puzzle in order to store energy in summer and provide maximum insulation in winter.

In countries with extreme temperatures, finding an energy efficient solution to heating and cooling can be difficult. Two London architects have come up with a novel design that uses “seasonal architecture” to solve the problem.

The D*Dynamic house was built based on the principle of a Haberdasher’s Puzzle that dissects a square and re-arranges its parts to form an equilateral triangle. Architects David Grunberg and Daniel Woolfson launched The D*Haus Company Limited to develop the experimental house.

D*Dynamic automatically changes the configuration of the house in order to follow the sun and adapt to the changing seasons, using a series of heat sensors.

The house opens up like a flower into a series of eight different shapes in summer in order to constantly flood the main rooms with sun and at the same time soak energy into the solar panels that can provide cooling ventilation in the heat.

In winter the house folds up into a tight square with it’s natural lighting coming from high windows. This holds heat and provides insulation. Energy stored from the solar panels is used for heating the house as well as for hot water. The anchor is the largest part of where the plumbing is situated.

The structure of the design means that there is no specific interior or exterior walls as these traditionally fixed structures move and change according to the shifting shapes and offer continually changing views of the surrounding landscape.