Chickenville

The site is located within a smaller settlement, with several family properties nearby, while the rest of the landscape consists of agricultural land. Additionally, a small hotel/restaurant owned by the same proprietor is located in the immediate vicinity, giving the site the opportunity to realise an educational and tourist purpose. Access to the specified location is from the north-east side by forming a new driveway and pedestrian path, which is connected to the aforementioned hotel via an existing road.

EXISTING STATE

Since this concerns organic poultry farming, it was necessary to satisfy a number of parameters, which were thus implemented into the design of the space, including the buildings.

By analysing all input data, the concept of a small “town” intended for the life of poultry was born. Given that it was necessary to satisfy two purposes within a space so constrained by regulations, we divide the site into two zones. The first zone is intended for visitors and also serves as a supporting space for maintenance functions, while the second zone is exclusively a space for poultry accommodation.

The subject location is designed to accommodate around 400 laying hens, 100 fattening chickens, and 30 chicks with broody hens. The chicks are located in the central part within specially enclosed buildings with accompanying outdoor space, while the laying hens – given their four different breeds – form an equal number of “quarters” within the “town” oriented towards the second zone of the site.

As regulations required providing sufficient outdoor area for grazing, each “quarter” receives two meadows (each around 200 m²) that are used alternately.

The idea of creating a small “town” as such must satisfy all its needs; therefore, besides residential buildings and a square, there is a public facility near the north-east entrance – a shop for selling products, as well as a service section comprising a tool shed and a waste disposal area (offset from the entrance itself).

CONCEPT / BUILDING DESIGN

When designing the housing facilities for the poultry, we were guided by their needs and the regulations that must be respected. In this way, we obtained three different types of buildings depending on the breed that will reside in them.

The first type, intended for fattening chickens, did not have many determining factors except for the required floor area (10 m²/fattening chicken), and therefore receives a simple rectangular plan with a mono-pitched roof. The design thus satisfies basic functions – a sleeping area and a part of the outdoor space obtained by elevating the building off the ground.

The second type, intended for chicks with a broody hen, is located in the central space but is enclosed by a mesh for protection during visitor arrivals. Its shape – a circular plan – leaves an impression of comfort, which was the most critical starting point in designing the building.

The third type, given its users (laying hens), had to satisfy more factors and is therefore of a slightly more complex design. The building is dimensioned for 25 laying hens and one rooster. Its plan is also a rectangle, but with a dual-pitched gable roof that highlights two different ways of using the space.

By elevating it off the ground like the other two types, it ensures an outdoor space for food and protection from bad weather. By positioning the bottom surface of one part of the building at an incline equal to the roof slope, we obtain a sleeping area for the laying hens. Since laying hens must have perches arranged in a specific way for this, creating the incline yields precisely their position. Likewise, such a design suggests the point of access into the building. The second part of the building, with a different roof slope and smaller dimensions, creates a more intimate space for nesting boxes, which can be accessed through a door on the rear side oriented towards the central part of the site.

Each of the three building types also shares several common characteristics, namely that they are elevated from the ground to obtain a higher-quality living space and to ensure easier cleaning and maintenance, given the possibility of opening them at several positions and the provided pull-out trays.

Through all of the above, the idea of the entire project was to create a space where the main users are precisely the poultry, while everyone else is just a visitor. Thereby, the emphasis is placed on the natural green space and the formation of an environment where all functions are satisfied through design.