Biogenic Construction

Category: Future Projects - Experimental. The project aims to push the fundamental understanding of the potentials of biogenic materials in architecture and construction. It concerns three main questions: How can architecture be created so it fully contributes to the green transition of society? How can architectural design increase the use of biogenic materials in construction to help decreasing CO2 emissions? How can radical biogenic architecture be developed when integrating knowledge from traditional building culture/-craft with contemporary efficient building processes? It comprises historical analyzes and critical studies of radical construction techniques, up-front carbon emissions, innovative craftmanship, and fire protection - involving testing of full-scale prototypes and construction mock-ups. The project holds three components: 1. Mapping clay’s use in thatched building constructions in Denmark/Northern Europe – both in historical and contemporary construction. 2. Development, design and prototyping of thatched constructions, technical/architectural quality assessment. 3. Comparative fire tests of thatched building facades showing how clay-based fire retardant perform on different parameters. Background: The Danish Wadden Sea Center by Dorte Mandrup made headlines in 2017. The museum was entirely thatched and changed the perception of how to use reed. Reed holds potentials to reduce the environmental impact of construction. But the use of reed has decreased due to the costs of craft-based construction and fear of fire-hazards. Today, thatched constructions are fire-protected with impregnation, membranes, and improved fastening, but fire-protection should be as natural, biodegradable, and CO2-saving as the reed itself. Environmental perspectives: Reed captures CO2 from the atmosphere while growing. Combining clay and reed for fire-protection is also interesting from a CO2 perspective, since few resources are needed for production and transport, which is a prerequisite for the construction industry to reach 70%-100% CO2 reduction. Objective: To develop sustainable constructions for thatched facades that are environmentally friendly, fireproof, and scalable to an industrial level. The focus is on fire-safety, which is a key challenge when using biogenic materials. Different clay mixtures are tested as fire-protection in building facades. Since it is critical to change established workflows of the construction industry, a series of new thatching solutions have been developed in close collaboration with key partners as: highly skilled craftsmen and fire-experts.