Unity - Zero energy, prefab, habitat

UACEG - University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, Sofia, Bulgaria

Project idea

The project is an experiment, which aims to explore the synthesis between two opposite designing methods: from outside to inside; from inside to outside.

The project site is located close to the city center of Helsinki - in the university district - Viiki - northern from the nature reserve known as “bird paradise in the center of the city”. The site analysis of the place observes a lack of connectivity in the context. The goal of the project concept is the UNITY of the surroundings.

Project description

The composition strategy follows the continuations of the existing buildings, creating a distinctive volume that embraces the whole space.
The street, crossing the green space is converted into pedestrian street with restricted vehicle access, which unifies the space making it more pleasant for a rest and able to play the role of a transition between city and nature.
The new building is at the northern part of the complex. Its south façade is open, facing the nature reserve. The north façade is glazed, forms a big public space in front of it and connects to the existing building of GARDENIA by using the same exterior materials.
The new building consists of 5 residential floors and a commercial ground floor, that is connected to an underground parking. The residential part has three types of apartments: with 3, with 2 bedrooms and single space studios.
The shape and the inclination of the building are a design result of the sun path in Helsinki. Every apartment has an optimal daylight during the whole year. And even more: own terrace, own garden and a south view towards the nature park. The common spaces look to the city and the square in front of the building.

The renovation of the office building is part of the UNITY concept and respects the already existing. The annex follows the continuation of the old volume keeping the façade rhythm and increasing the verticality and the high so that they flow into the new building.
The building consists of 4 residential and one public floor provided for students and visiting researchers. The residential part has 32 studios of 45 sq.m. with own accessible bathroom and kitchen. The meeting rooms on the first floor have adaptive distribution, natural daylight, a view to the garden and sound absorbing walls.

Part of the green zone of the complex is the museum of Viikki, which has a strong relation with the nature due to its location. The concept for its renovation is to be converted into a transition between city and nature- a space with room for all. The museum is going to part of the “bird paradise in the city center”, stimulating the biodiversity. And will preserve its function of a museum- a museum for live, free, migrating birds.

Technical information

About the new building:
One of the sustainable strategies of the new building is the zoning of heated and unheated spaces. The heated volume is smaller and the unheated one serves as an additional insulation space. The floor slab, made of CLT panels and the installation detail of the windows prevent thermal bridges.
The south façade has building integrated photovoltaics that contribute for the architectural presence and combined with the sustainable ventilation and geothermal heat pump make the building ZERO ENERGY.
The construction of the new building is made of prefab GLULAM elements forming fixed connection between each other, which enhances the structure efficiency and has a lot of advantages such as precision, speed building process and lower cost.

About the renovation:
The building has a rainwater usage system, passive ventilation, geothermal heat pump. The dismantling operations are minimal and mainly interior in order to preserve the façade and adapt the function.