Explosion Model
Existing building renovation, wooden GRID with solar facade and residential boxes are the core elements of our design.
Wooden GRID and Solar Facade
A special feature of the extension is the facade. The GRID is used as a structure for both the existing building and the extension. The wooden beams are placed in the grid of the existing building, creating a visual connection between the extension and the existing building. Attached to the wooden structure are wire ropes covered with diamond-shaped, translucent PV cells, so-called organic photovoltaic modules.
These are attached to the net by plexiglass letters. The measures for energy production and energy saving are visibly integrated into the architecture and the appearance and show an innovative solution how solar architecture can work: The facade has to fulfill different functions together with the OPV modules. They serve as shading (summer thermal protection), must simultaneously allow sufficient light to pass through and must produce a certain energy yield. To meet these three requirements, a tool was created to simulate and calculate the optimal orientation and placement of the modules. This results in the site-specific appearance of the façade and, in our case, three different sizes of OPV cells.
Living Modules
There are both two-story and single-story residential modules to meet different needs - single households and shared apartments or small families can find a home in the extension. The so-called functional walls are lined up in the grid and can be brought to the construction site prefabricated to a large extent. The shifting of the functional walls breaks the monotony and creates a varied outdoor space. This is reinforced by the different levels in front of the residential units.
Existing Building
The existing building will be renovated mainly to reduce energy consumption, but also to improve the quality of the rooms. One measure is the modification of the façade. The old concrete façade has many thermal bridges. Therefore, it’s very important to reduce the heat transmission here, but we also want to keep the appearance of the old façade. The vertical pillars and horizontal ceilings give this building a unique character, which would be destroyed by putting a thick heat insulation on it.
The possible solution for this building is unconventional, but very innovative. First the white, nonweight-bearing concrete pillars, old windows and balustrades will be removed. The grey pillars and ceilings remain. Now we have an empty grid, which can be filled with a new, prefabricated element. This new element is manufactured in wood, so its lightly and has a good insulation. With this measure, the weight of the whole building is reduced, so there are more possibilities for the two extra storeys, which will be added. The necessary pillars for the structure of the building will be insulated with a special aerogel-plaster. This will reduce the heat transmission through concrete parts. To keep the appearance of the vertical pillars, the new wooden elements will have the same grid size, as the old façade. But here the new wooden pillars will be used to integrate a technical installation.
Air-wings (for ventilation) will be built into the pillars. Through these wings, fresh air can flow into the rooms. They will open, if its too hot (above 26 °C) or if the CO2 concentration in the room is too high. The two solar chimneys are responsible for the air to steam out. They build up a negative pressure, so the air flows from the rooms into a main channel and through these chimneys out of the building. With this measure the natural ventilation is improved, and energy is only used to control the wings in the façade and inside the solar chimneys. Approximately up to 20 MWh are saved per year compared to a conventional ventilation system.