The characteristics of rural sunroom residences on the Tibetan Plateau: the role of sunrooms, their integration, and impact on functional arrangement

Sunrooms on the Tibetan Plateau are multifunctional additions to traditional houses, serving for leisure, housework, and sleeping. As new residential components, they have brought about changes in the spatial order and usage patterns of housing in various aspects. Therefore, there is a need to understand the sunroom in terms of locals’ residential habits and concepts. Multiple field surveys of rural dwellings were conducted in Lhasa, a total of 41 households was visited, architectural surveys were performed on 15 typical residences. A detailed description of the mapped houses is presented; the functional layout and spatial form of sunroom houses are summarized, and the spatial order of residences is analyzed through historical comparative analysis. The results show that the sunroom, as an important residential space, has integrated with and improved the original internal logic of residence. Sunroom addition rates were 40% in U-shaped plans but 0% in other plans; 46.7% of single south room layouts but only 6.7% of south + north room layouts. The research findings help to deepen the understanding of the role of the sunroom in Tibetan Plateau residences from an architectural culture perspective. This also lays the foundation for further studies on the heating efficiency of sunrooms.