Infill Industrial building transformation with timber

Abstract

nder the background of globalization and urbanization, Gothenburg grew into one of the largest Nordic cities, accompanied by a housing shortage. People wait for years in rental housing queues or move around frequently because of short-term contracts. The lack of housing makes it easier for people with stable work while disadvantages the mobile population like students and temporary workers. There is an objective need for a temporary-type accommodation model. Meanwhile, the industrial section in Gothenburg has faced a recession and the need for urban transformation like in the Lindholmen area is being prioritized. Hence, transforming disused industrial buildings into new residential buildings to reduce new construction becomes an interesting topic for me. Plåtverkstaden near Lindholmen is chosen as the building to develop my thesis. When thinking about transformation inside buildings, the first material that came into my mind is timber. Timber has many advantages concerning construction. It can be locally sourced, extremely light, fast to assemble, and can be customized easily at the site. It’s low-impact and visually appealing, which matches the sustainable concept of transformation with a second-life metaphorical message. When timber is infilled into an existing building envelope, thermal performance goals can be achieved much easier, which is one of the synergies triggered. Through this thesis, I hope to find out more synergies of transformation with timber. This thesis is about transforming Plåtverkstaden with timber to create a lively community where people can live, work and connect, with a goal of supporting the companies and university in the vicinity with short-term housing and working services, so as to promote Gothenburg’s industry transformation for a sustainable future in the urban context. To meet indoor comfort goals for living and working, comfort analyzing software is used as a design tool. Apart from that, exploration also includes the design of housing units with higher heights, and the potential for indoor gardens, re-using existing building elements, in the industrial building setting. This thesis is aimed to be a reference to show the potential of industrial building transformation and provide solutions for more cases.