Stay up to date with our current project. Here you will find general information about the House Demonstration Unit, the modular timber construction and a weekly updated levelup construction diary!
The Building challenge - House Demonstration Unit
The House Demonstration Unit (HDU) shows a representative section of our „levelup“ system or the addition to our Design Challenge which will be exhibited in Wuppertal during the competition in June 2022. A barrier-free residential unit is built from the 2nd storey of the Design Challenge and the roofscape above with the integration of solar technology. In addition to the ground floor flat, the upper floor has two exemplary community uses, the greenhouse and the roof terrace, which are available for the social interaction of the residents. Due to the competition conditions and our location on the Solar Campus in Wuppertal, adjustments had to be made compared to the Design Challenge. The roof orientation of the HDU is rotated by 180° to align the roof PVT system with the sun according to the location. The flat is shortened from 4 modules to 3 modules and the louvre façade and pitched roof is set back by one module width.
The House Demonstration Unit
The
residential unit of the HDU construction consists of three wooden modules with
dimensions length of 7.50 metres x width of 2.95 metres X height of 3.10
metres.
The entire HDU sits on a
podium constructed of wood plank decking, which is further characterized
on the exterior with green areas flush with the decking and raised planting
beds. During the competition, there is a cargo bike directly located at the HDU
to show the mobility concept.
Interior of our levelup construction
Going back to the idea of flexibility, the interior is designed in such a way that fronts can be exchanged and adapted to the needs and wishes of the occupants. This permits different materials in various price classes to be selected. In addition to the individual furnishing concept, accessibility has also been taken into account. For example, by using different colors or surface haptic, furnishings can also be adapted to visually impaired people.
Green Communal Spaces
The communal areas include spacious planted areas, which are optimally supplied with daylight through the large window areas on the façade and roof. These spaces can be used by all residents and the greenery helps to create a pleasant indoor climate. For the cool seasons, this allows the residents to spend time in nature and enjoy the pleasant atmosphere among plants. The common rooms are intended to serve as a place of calm and communication for the entire building. Exterior lighting is designed to reduce light pollution. The HDU will have minimised external lighting, which will only directly illuminate the pathways. The LED light strips are recessed into the underside of the handrails and shine downwards onto the visitor path.
Energy and heating concept
To obtain a solar plus energy building, the energy
demand of the building must be minimised in any case. For energy generation,
our HDU has three differently oriented PV systems, consisting of PVT collectors
on the roof, semi-transparent PV modules on the top of our greenhouse and
building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) on the façade.
The heating concept had to be transformed into a power only concept. An
electric heat pump replaced the AHP and district heating of the Design
challenge concept, and a water storage tank replaced the thermal mass of the
activated façade. In summer, the PVT collector is sufficient as a heat source;
a geothermal basket is added for later use of the HDU in Rosenheim.
Take a public tour of our levelup house during the competition in
Wuppertal!
Soon you will also find all information about the public tour here.
After
the competition, our construction will be used permanently on the campus of the
Rosenheim University of Applied Sciences as a day-care centre and family
office.
For this reason, we also placed special emphasis on additional assembly
and disassembly and maximum durability.
