Indoor Microclimate Conditions and the Impact of Transformations on Hygrothermal Comfort in the Old Ottoman Houses in Algiers

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the assessment of microclimatic conditions in the Ottoman residential buildings in the old city of Algiers. It aims to identify the nature of architectural transformations and to analyse their impact on hygrothermal comfort and the indoor microclimate so as to suggest ways to improve the current level of comfort within the traditional houses.

The object of this article is to identify the nature of this transformation process, to find out, not only what triggers it but what fuels it, and to analyse its impact on the environment, or more specifically, on the hygrothermal comfort, within the building. It entails, primarily, an analysis of the colonial and post-colonial architectural transformations, followed by a verification of all the components of hygrothermal comfort through numerical simulation and modelling. The aim is to correct the interior comfort of the current houses in the Casbah. The results obtained will clarify the nature of these colonial and post-colonial changes, which were carried out to satisfy the needs of the inhabitants, and lead to an evaluation of environmental quality, assessed through the parameters that influence the indoor microclimate of houses in Algeria.

KEYWORDS:

• Architectural transformations
• heritage conservation
• hygrothermal comfort
• indoor microclimate
• numerical simulation and modelling
• ottoman residential buildings

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank both the members of the ERASMUS+ team, for all their help and support, and the OGEBC agency for providing the Ottoman archives pertaining to the houses in our case studies.

Supplemental material

Supplementary data for this article can be accessed here.

Notes

¹ Originally the word Casbah referred to the citadel overlooking the medina of Algiers. Gradually the term encompassed the city itself, the ramparts that protected the Casbah, and specially the upper part of the old city.

² Permanent Plan for the Safeguarding and Enhancement of Secured Areas is presented as a tool for the management and protection of built and urban cultural heritage, with the aim of preserving historical values. The concept comes from Law 98.04 of June 15 1998, relating to the protection of cultural heritage, it is enacted by Executive Decree No. 03–324 of 5 October 2003, amended and supplemented by Executive Decree 11–01 of 5 January 2011.

³ National Office for the Management and Exploitation of Protected Cultural Property, it is a Public Institution of Industrial and Commercial Character under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture, the Office manages cultural property in the field of exploitation, the implementation of value and animation of these properties, the protection and maintenance as well as the implementation of measures for the conservation of the sites, museums and monuments managed by the Office.

⁴ Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the technology of indoor and vehicular environmental comfort. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. HVAC system design is a subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer. “HVAC”. Merriam–Webster Dictionary.