SOLAR DECATHLON EUROPE 21/22

NEWS

Construction

With the studio "Material and Detail" happening in fall 2020, the students have developed projects with construction principles for the 3D printed method. The basic elements of construction were studied (walls, floors, roofs...) and integration of other elements, like stairs have also been researched. Here you can see some of the results that will be developed in C-hive.

Architectural concept

The task of designing the project for the Solar Decathlon 2021 Competition was focusing on an extension on the rooftop. The first thought went to the concept of a mossy tree trunk, mushrooms sprouting out of the ground, and a sense of something new growing on top of something old.

Growing: «increase in size or importance of something.»

Synonyms: «extension, widening, thickening, broadening, swelling, magnification, sprouting, blooming, flourishing. thriving, escalation, buildout, or spreading.»

Unit design

The display unit functions as an open plan apartment with generous spaces for living, working, and dining all together in one double-height space whilst the more private areas such as bedroom and bathroom are more enclosed and intimate spaces. A mezzanine floor provides additional areas for working at home or creating a studio space.

The construction system is based on stackable wall blacks combined with tension rods for post-tensioning which ties the roof, walls, and floor together.

Urban concept

The SDE building could become part of a larger mobility hub system, where different knots are interconnected. Hereby, several locations in the city can offer e-mobility stations, connecting back to the SDE building. In this way, our urban mobilty concept can, at the image of the city bikes of Gothenburg, develop towards an e-mobility network offering good alternatives to cars. Introducing e-mobility that is linked to PV power is a good opportunity for the city to lower its environmental footprint, striving towards carbon neutrality.

Concept video

This video explain the concept we are working with at C-hive. From urbanisation to sustainability, follow our process to define what C-hive will be in the Solar Decathlon 2021 Competition.

SERVICES

CHALLENGE

Sweden has a large low-density housing stock of 3-5 story buildings from the 1960’s and the 1970’s. Today many of these projects are being upgraded and get added stories many using relatively lightweight timber construction which is prevalent in Sweden. Most of these projects are built in-situ needing additional infrastructure such as additional lifts, cranes and scaffolds during the construction phase causing disruptions and nuisance for owners and existing tenants. The aim C-Hive is the development of a component and cellulose-based ultra-lightweight building system using additive manufacturing. This would allow the construction of rooftop addition of stories to cause minimum disruption whilst using a fully recyclable renewable resource which is a waste product of the Swedish forestry industry.

ABOUT

2022

Final construction

Team

members

Teams in the

competition

Demo unit to build

PROJECTS