Upcycle House is an experimental project of a single-family house with the total area 129 sqm, designed by Danish architectural practice Lendager Arkitekter. The purpose of this project was to show how emissions of CO2 can be reduced during construction through the use of recycled and upcycled materials, as well as to develop processes of upcycling and reusing useless materials and garbage for new building materials of higher utility value than they had originally.
Most houses built from recycled materials and debris look unpresentable, to put it mildly. This definitely cannot be said about Upcycled House – the architects made the most of recycled materials invisible, so that they do not cause the impression of junk. The result is a great-looking building made ??of contemporary materials.
So, what materials and structures are used in construction? Two shipping containers make the basis of the supporting structure of the house. They stand on a point foundation, made ??from recycled screw-poles. The roof and facade cladding are made from recycled aluminum soda cans. Facade panels consist of post-consumer recycled granulated paper, which is pressed together and heat-treated. Inside, the walls and floors of the house are covered with oriented strand boards (OSB). The kitchen floor is clad in tiled champagne cork-leftovers. The bath tiles are made of recycled glass.
Construction of the building was carried out in two stages. In the first stage, the containers were delivered to the workshop, where window holes were cut, and plumbing and wiring were fitted. The containers were then transported to the site in Nyborg, where ??the final assembly of the entire structure was made.
Anders Lendager, the owner of Lendager Arkitekter: ‘We initially thought that a reduction of 65% CO2 was unrealistic, but when we ran the LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) on all materials throughout the entire project, it turned out that we had reduced the CO2 emissions associated with construction with 86%, compared to a benchmark house. With that in mind, we are surprised that no one else is working on this. Why is it not included in everything we do as architects? Why is it not included in the building code that a certain percentage of building materials have to be recycled?’
The architects also strove to reduce CO2 emissions during the functioning of the building. Therefore, the house is designed with orientation, temperature zones, daylight optimization, shading and natural ventilation in mind. As a result, carbon dioxide emissions from Upcycle House are 0.7 KG CO2/M2/YR compared to 5.0 KG CO2/M2/YR for a benchmark house.
PROJECT DATA:
Architects: Lendager Arkitekter
Location: Nyborg, Denmark
Client: Realdania Byg
Contractor: Egen Vinding & Datter
Construction Year: 2013
Floor Area: 129 sqm
Team: Anders Lendager, Christopher Carlsen, Jenny Haraldsdottir, Rune Sode, Morten Bang, Ronnie Markussen, Anna Ziober, Hasse Schou
Photo Credits: Jesper Ray and Polfoto