Chicken House
The idea of the Chicken’s House comes from the customer request. They are an aged couple who longing to move to the countryside. They want to raise some chickens in the garden so that they can take care of them, feed them and watch them every day as a way to clear their mind. They look forward to their children and grandchildren could come and visit them often and have space for them to play around when they stay. The design team does not want to imprison the chickens in small cages. The chickens also need free space, air, a place to drink water, lay and hatch eggs. Sometimes, they dig the soil, eat some leaves or chase each other. The design team wants to give them a large and safe space to form a miniature social community for chickens and ducks.
Metal grill and cemboard are used to made this chicken’s house. The size is 2mx10mx2m, which is suitable for kids to play in. The metal grill surrounding limit the safe space for the chicken but brings the unlimited view and connection between inside and outside. Basing on the chickens living habit, they often go up high in the dark. To create more activities for them, the team creates additional vertical axis. The boxes are hung up and connected by lightweight stairs, the space below those boxes combined with the canopy to avoid sunlight. Around the cages, the owner will grow vegetables and luffa which can climb up and cover the roof to create the shadow for the chicken coop. In term of cleaning the coop, all water and chicken waste will drain to the sides of the garden to irrigate vegetables. Designing this chicken house actually aims to create fun and inspiration for the kids. The team thinks of the little kids in the big cities, they are growing up in a society where adults live fast and always busy. The kids only know about school, studying and games. When we finished the chicken house, we realized that sometimes humans also need to relax in order to have the freedom as chickens. The simple things make life more beautiful and lovely.
