9 Houses That Tell Us Why Good Old Wood Is The Future
[Full subtitle]: Most people think wooden buildings mean traditional buildings. However, innovative, contemporary wooden houses that leverage the many advantages of wood are becoming the newest global trend.
The interest in contemporary wooden houses is gaining ground all over the world. The wood’s ability to be part of a sustainable, recycling society by using locally sourced wood or recycled wood, the relative ease in modular production, and the wooden buildings’ ability to blend into nature are contributing to the building material’s increasing popularity. Above all, people have lived close to trees since ancient times, and have used wood to build houses everywhere. With its organic warmth, its inherent feeling of softness, and its many eco friendly properties, such as the ability to provide thermal insulation and thermal storage as well as humidity control, wood is a building material for the future. Nine examples of wooden houses that open new possibilities follows.
Why wood?この家は木のもつ性質(ネイチャー)をありのままに活かしながら、木造建築の新しい価値観の創造をめざした、イノベーティブな建物である。 壁と屋根と2階の床はすべて、通常、柱や梁、桁に使う厚さ12センチの平角材を並べて接合しているため、一般的な木造住宅に比べて構造的にも耐火性の面でも非常に強い建物になっている。厚みのある木の壁、屋根、床は適度に蓄熱するため、住まい手である網野さんのお母さまによれば「寒いとか熱いとか、感じたことがないですね」とのこと。また、木材の処理は防蟻処理のみで、外壁も内壁も塗装などの仕上げはしていないため、将来、一部解体した場合にも再利用しやすいし、廃棄する場合も環境負荷が低い。
通常の木造建築の3倍もの量の木材を使っているが、そのすべてが市場価値の低いデッドストックである。例えば、室内の一部の壁に使われているのは、断面にヒビがあったり角や皮に丸みがあるため市場価値の低い間柱材を束ねてつくったものだが、丸みのある表面が垣間見えて、壁に表情をつくりだしている。「規格品優先の木材市場の流通の問題や、消費者が見た目のよい木材を選ぶといった事情により、十分使えるのに使われていない木材がたくさんあります。これを製材所で直接買い付けました。コストを抑えるだけでなく、製材所や山で働く人に直接お金を落とし、山を豊かにしたいと考えてのことです」と網野さんは話す。View more of this home
2. Multi-story Houses Completely Made Out of Wood in SwedenLocation: SundbybergArchitect: Gert Wingårdh Builder: FolkhemMerits of this wooden house- Low-energy- Environmental friendliness- Innovative construction method- Appropriate consumption of lumbers compared with the growth rate of Swedish woodOverviewSweden’s biggest wooden structure so far, Strandparken in Sundbyberg, outside Stockholm, has 8 storeys that were built as modules, and was designed by renowned architect Gert Wingårdh and built by Folkhem, aleading building company that focusses on building completely with wood, from the structures inside to the interiors and façades. The company sees wood as the only material that can see us into a sustainable future, when the population in the cities expand and the building boom continues unabated in Stockholm and beyond....
Why Wood?“Quite simply, wood is the best building material there is,” says Sandra Frank, marketing director at Folkhem. “Living in a wooden house is healthy, there is a warm, welcoming feeling, the acoustics are great, and you know that you are contributing to a sustainable future.”In fact, although it comes as no surprise that Sweden has a long heritage of building with wood, as the material is plentiful in the country, at the end of the 19th-century a ban against building multi-storey houses completely out of wood was introduced, due to the many fires. It wasn’t until 1994 when this ban was lifted and all-wood structures were reintroduced. And now Swedish architect firms are really pushing the boundaries of what can be built in wood, with ever higher, bigger and bolder buildings.
Folkhem are now proposing to build 6,000 home until 2024 and have commissioned the finest architects to create proposals for structures that are as stunning to look at as they are easy to live in. “One of our main aims is to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released during building, and if we build 6,000 homes in wood instead of concrete we will be saving 600,000 tonnes carbon dioxide. That is the same amount as if we would cease all flights from Bromma airport for 50 years… That is a striking thought,” says Sandra Frank.Watch a video about the Strandparken project and Folkhem
3. Cabinet-like Farmhouse in ScotlandLocation: Dumfries & Galloway, ScotlandArchitect: Sam Booth of Echo LivingMerits of this wooden house- Low-energy- Efficient modular construction method- Comfortable microclimate- Emotional warmth and a tactile quality of the interiorOperating entirely off-grid, with solar panels and huge amounts of insulation as its secret weapons, the Brockloch Bothy is a light, warm space, beautifully designed to make the most of its minimal square footage. The timber used for the interior is 27mm cross laminated spruce timber panel imported from Italy, which comes in a 5 meter by 2.05 meter sheet that allows the designer to build entire walls out of a single sheet.
Why wood?The design firm have created buildings manufactured in a workshop and delivered to site complete, which allow them to build to a finish more akin to cabinet making than traditional bricks and mortar building on site.The external cladding was done with a local Scots Larch board that was made in panels that where fitted onto the building in alternating patterns of vertical and horizontal boards accentuating the modular nature of the building.
“Internally the use of timber gives both an emotional warmth and a tactile quality that that a standard plastered wall cannot match. Wood also has the ability to both regulate the internal moisture content of a space and store heat through its thermal mass creating a more even environment.For a more straight forward reason my back ground is as a furniture maker creating objects in wood. I see the projects Echo produces as more as furniture that you can set in a field to live in than conventional buildings,” adds the architect.See more photos of this farmhouse
4. Relaxed Feel of a Downsized Urban Home in GermanyLocation: Wandlitz near BerlinArchitect: 2D+ ArchitektenMerits of this wooden house- All-wood construction - Environmental friendliness- Relaxed feel and comfortOverviewThe owners, who used to live in an 200 square-meter apartment in Berlin, wanted to keep living in the urban area with all the comforts they enjoyed in a new home. For this purpose, the architects created this house like a big piece of furniture with plenty of storage built in the walls. Except a table and two sofas, the owners did not need to bring any furniture when they moved in. Also, they have a new fireplace, a sauna with a window overlooking the garden, a custom made kitchen – and did not have to downgrade their lifestyle.
“On a small building site we had to deal with an ambitious space allocation plan. At the same time we did not want to have rooms that felt cramped. So we tried to achieve a relaxied feel by using wood,” reflects Markus Bonauer, one of the two architects, who designed the building. “You could say that we tried to think a wooden house in a holistic way. It is made entirely of wood. It is constructed with it, insulated with it and clad with it. We basically left the wood untreated. We just oiled it and whitewashed it. That way it is completely compostable.”View more of this all-wood house
5. Dome House for Weekends in RussiaMerits of this wooden house- Innovative structure that gives the house as twice strength as an ordinary house- Good insulationLocation: Zelenograd area (About an hour of driving from Moscow towards the north)Project creator: “Skydom” companyThe dome with a diameter of 9 meters, a dream house of the owner, has a spacious interior with a simple and cozy atmosphere. The structural strength of the sphere-shapes house, built in 2 months, is as twice strong as a ordinary house of the same size, thanks to the shell that doubles the structure. The engineers who have worked in aerospace industry employed some brand new production processes that gives strength to the joints. The house bears up to 700 kilograms of snow load per square meter.There’s no bearing wall inside the house, so the layout is very flexible. The heating expenses have been cut by half, thanks to the cupola shape and the low heat loss....
6. Contemporary Wooden Beach House in New ZealandLocation: Mahia Peninsula, New ZealandArchitect: Julian GuthrieSize: (enquiring and will send you response)Year of completion: 2013Merits of this wooden house- Integration into the natural landscape - Organic warmthOverviewWooden-based architecture is very much a feature of the building vernacular of New Zealand, being the dominant building material used by both the original indigenous population and since European colonization. However there is an increasing global trend of using sustainable managed timbers for both exterior and interior uses, and also for innovative timber structures. The Mahia Project is a holiday house for the client. One day during the construction, the clients had a massive tree fall down on their city home property and asked Guthrie to use it in some manner for this project. They ended up milling the timber into the interior wall sarking, so that any exterior cedar clad wall was clad internally in the native kahitkatea timber, which is the tree that fell on the house. ...
Why wood?Architect Julian Guthrie chose wood as the dominant exterior material for several reasons. The timber weathers naturally which assists the building to blend into the natural landscape of the site. The clear oiled cedar is an ideal low maintenance cladding for a harsh coastal environment.The exterior timber cladding, if left unstained, will naturally bleach with weathering becoming a silver grey tone within a few years. Using a clear oil finish still allows the timber to bleach, but importantly protects the timber from drying out and fungal deterioration, improving the long term durability of the cladding.Guthrie think that timber will always be a primary material consideration for his designs. “It offers so much versatility in finish and texture, whether left natural or coated. The natural quality of timber imparts an organic warmth to buildings which is important in an increasing complex and urbanized society,” says the architect.See more of the beach house
7. Modular House Made of Reused Materials in ChileMerits of this wooden house- Low-energy- Environmental friendliness by using recycled materials- Innovative ventilation system- Efficient modular construction methodLocation: Curacaví, Región Metropolitana, Chile. Architect: James & Mau (Jaime Gaztelu and Mauricio Galeano), partners of construction company Infiniski specialized in sustainable modular houses OverviewConstructed by Infiniski, a construction company specialized in sustainable modular houses in Chiles, Colombia and Spain, the house is called Manifest House, because it represents the company’s philosophy: bioclimatic and modular design, recycled and reused materials, non polluting constructive systems and integration of renewable energy.The structure of the house consists of three shipping containers plus a double wooden skin façade: one is made of fixed horizontal timber slats and the other of mobile pallets that can be open individually to control solar radiation....
Why wood?“We used wood for the façade, not only for a better integration of the house within the landscape but also to create an air chamber ventilated façade. We used recycled pallets and the local common pine with a matt varnish, since it is cheap and easy to find in that area. We also used Oregon pine from demolition to build the indoors furniture,” says the architects.The house “dresses and undresses” through its double wooden skin, since the pallets can be open in winter to allow the sun heating the metal surface of the container walls, generating a natural heating system. They remain closed during the summer to protect the house from the heat, also serving as a natural air-conditioning through the air chamber ventilated façade that this double skin provides.
Negative sides of wood constructionThe architects also point out some negative sides of wood construction: “We’d love to use wood even more, but it is an expensive material if you want it to meet all the necessary requirements for the project and if it comes from certified forests. Moreover, it requires a careful maintenance that not everybody is willing to do. So we use it in general much more for the details in the interior than for the structure or the façade.”They usually reuse wood from demolishing houses and buildings. “We found the one for this house in Valparaiso, Chile. They are Oregon pine or Bay tree woods about 100 years old, so they are more than stabilized.”View more of the house
8. High-rise Towers That Merge into the Surrounding Forests in AustriaMerits of this wooden house- Low-energy- Integration into the natural landscapeLocation: Katschberg, AustriaArchitect: Matteo Thun & PartnersOverviewThe two residential towers of Edel Weiss Residence are integrated in the landscape on the Katschberg Pass between the Austrian provinces of Salzburg and Carinthia. The buildings have 66 units in total as winter-residences of ski- and mountain lovers. There’s no new infrastructure for electricity and plumbing, since the heat is supplied by a nearby hotel with a biomass generator fueled by waste-wood.Larch, a local material, is used for the wooden façade of the building and for many of the furniture inside the single apartments.
Why wood?“Wood is part of the soul of the location, the Austrian mountains. Architecture needs to visually merge into the natural setting in order to be of a long-term aesthetic value and thus be sustainable, meaning in this case to have a long lifetime,” says Thun. The material, larch, is a local material and available nearby to the construction site, requiring only short ways of transportation and thus limiting pollution. More than that wood is a comfortable material: it is warm, has good insulation properties, which is important in the mountains.
9. House by Carpenter and Architect Brothers in DenmarkLocation: AarhusArchitect: Rasmus Jensen ARCHITEKT MAA and Per Clemens Jensen, who is a carpenter and construction firm Brix & JensenWhereMerits of this wooden house- Low-energy- Integration into the natural landscapeOverviewFamily means everything, especially the bond between siblings. The fact that building a house can seem like an insurmountable project, but not in this case, where the little brother is a carpenter, and the older brother is an architect, and they have created a beautiful low-energy wooden house together. The house stands on one of the four residential plots sold to an interdisciplinary development project ‘Home for Life,’ in which a low-energy house was built as a pilot project carried by a host of companies together.
Why wood?The house is a low-energy house that consumes only 1,700 kWh per year, thanks to the extra wood insulation as well as three-layer energy windows with the composite core. Although not connected to the district heating, this well-insulated house is comfortable all the year around thanks to the geothermal heating and cooling system.See more of this home
1. House of a Mass of Wood in JapanLocation: Fujinomiya, ShizuokaArchitect: Yoshiaki Amino and Heisei CorporationMerits of this wooden house- Low-energy- Environmental friendliness- Innovative construction method- Comfortable microclimate- Direct economic contribution to people in timber industryOverview「木のカタマリの家」(Holzmassivbau in German or House of a Masse of Wood in English) は木造構法を専門とする大学教授兼建築家である網野禎昭(Yoshiaki Amino)さんと、すぐれた大工仕事で知られる建設会社、平成建設(Heisei Corporation)が協力して設計した家である。 大学で木造構法を教える教授でもある網野さんは、年老いた両親のために、木のもつ性能を存分に生かして健康的な住環境をつくりたいと考えた。「木のもつ断熱性、蓄熱性、調湿性、そして人々に心地よさ感じさせるといった多面的な性能があります」と網野さんは話す。この多面的な性能を引き出すため、低市場価値の国産スギ材を大量に使ったこの家をつくりだした。 家の形は、外気の影響を最小限にするため、外壁面積が最小になる正方形の平面にした。屋根の上にはソーラーパネルを置き、電力と熱を供給。加えて、スイス製の薪キッチンの熱も回収してタンクに1トンのお湯を貯め、床暖房や給湯に利用するなど、ローエネルギーの工夫をこらした設計となっている。東西南北にぴったりと配向し、南面をハイサイドライトのみとしているため、室内は光と陰の自然な濃淡に満ちたくつろぎの空間となっている。...
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