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19 March 2024

$3m house adapts to seasons: Coming to Dubai?

Published
By Parag Deulgaonkar

Imagine living in a house that adapts to the seasons and moves, literally, inside itself.

Now imagine the cost? A whopping Dh11 million ($3 million).

The London-based architects behind the house are not reluctant to bring the concept to the Middle East, though they have plenty of enquiries from the US at present, a company spokesperson told Emirates 24|7.

The concept house, developed by David Grunberg and Daniel Woolfson of D*Haus Company, can respond dynamically to its environment by controlled adaptation to seasonal, meteorological and astronomical conditions.



The concept design is based on the work of Henry Dudeney, an English mathematician, who invented a way to cut an equilateral triangle into four pieces that could be repositioned into a square.

“The largest part of the house will remain stationary with solid foundations (plumbing, electrics and services),” the spokesperson said, adding, “Each of the component of house will be sealed from the elements to keep internal spaces weatherproof, and when the modules link together, a sealed connection similar to a car door will allow transition from one space to another.”

D*Haus Dynamic from The D*Haus Company Ltd on Vimeo.


The flexibility of the house allows adaptation from winter to summer and day to night, by literally moving inside itself.

The thick, heavy external walls unfold into internal walls, allowing internal glass walls to become facades with doors becoming windows and vice versa.

During winter, the house is in a square formation, with small windows and high thermal mass, which means it literally ‘hugs’ itself.

As the seasons change and climate warms, the house opens up like a flower to allow light and air to penetrate the inside of the building.



“D*Dynamic literally unfolds itself like a Rubiks Cube,” the company says.

In the past, private developers have mooted the idea of building a rotating tower and a rotating city in the emirate.

Dubai, the city of skyscrapers, is home to Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower; Princess Tower, the world’s tallest residential tower and JW Marriott Marquee, the world’s tallest hotel tower.

The emirate is currently building Mall of the World, the largest mall in the world.