Recently I have been working on this concept for an ecological catalogue house (Nor. ferdighus, typehus) which I have so far called "SVITLO" (Ukrainian for "Light")! It can be constructed with materials of biological origins to the greatest possible extent, and especially in the interior untreated wood and clay surfaces offer a healthy indoor climate without synthetic surface treatments.
A transition to biologically based construction does not only entail the need to replace certain materials with other alternatives. It will also necessitate new ways of building, new architectural expressions and new ways of living, in addition to a new disposition towards how resources are used and temporarily stored in buildings before they are reused and recycled in new houses or returned to natural ecosystems.
Normally I am skeptical of using pre-designed solutions, because more often than not both a site and a family have to be forced to fit the house, rather than the house be adapted to the site and the users. This tends not to work out best. That being said, when one first has found good solutions, it makes sense to make use of them more than once! There are also many advantages to standardisation, which when combined with enough opportunities for customisation can lead to some interesting building systems.
This house concept integrates practical spatial needs with ecological awareness. It is based on a simple, rectangular footprint of 13,15 x 7 meters on the inside with an asymmetrical pitched roof. Onto this primary volume it is possible to add various additions according to personal wishes and needs: a carport with an external storage room on the north facade, a greenhouse to the south, and other expansions with additional rooms or a rental apartment to the east and west.
A timeless expression ensures that the house will fit visually into varied existing contexts, as well as appeal to a diversity of future users. At the same time the house has certain unique spatial qualities which make it into something more than a completely generic catalogue house.
The basic variant of this house has a heated floor area of 184 m2 for a family of four. The plan solutions are rational and area-efficient. On the ground floor, an entrance room with a connected toilet leads into a large living room and kitchen. This common room has views partly to an external terrace with a rain garden, and partly into a connected greenhouse. The other part of the ground floor is divided into a primary bedroom with its own bathroom and a technical/washing room.
On the second floor there are two bedrooms with varying sizes to the east, a bathroom, a small common area and a disposable area which can become either an enclosed 4th bedroom, a studio/home office or a larger loft living room. The entire second floor has an open ceiling to the sloping roof surfaces. The house's architectural character is provided by the increased ceiling height over a part of the living room which offers contact between the levels and increases considerably the sense of space inside this relatively small house. It also helps make natural ventilation possible. A visible wood structure around the opening contributes to create a space with a unique expression.
In the next post I will show some of the customisable variants, and in the posts after that I will describe this house concept's interiors and ecological characteristics.
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