The straw project; urban re-densification with low impact and residual materials
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Authors
Type
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Master's Thesis
Master's Thesis
Model builders
Journal Title
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Abstract
When “business as usual” and the untenable amount of
resource extraction and CO2
emissions within the building
industry is no longer an option if we are to have any chance of
reaching the SDGs and turn the critical climate development,
we need to seek for other sources to resources.
The context of the thesis is the urgent need to counteract
climate change and make a transition to a more sustainable
use of resources, energy and space as well as answering
to the housing situation in Gothenburg. Statistics shows
an increasing influx of inhabitants concentrated to the
metropolitan area with steadily growing housing queues
and the estimated population growth until 2040 is +120 000
inhabitants.
The focus of the thesis has therefore been to explore how
upcyling of residual straw from the agriculture and other
natural, low-impact materials can play an important role in
this transition together with strategies for sustainable urban
re-densification. By focusing on prefabrication techniques for
straw wall elements the traditional material meets modern
housing standards and the efficiency required on an urban
construction site.
The design proposal acts as a pilot project and a testbed
for all the research and explorations gathered throughout this
process. It displays aesthetic and architectural possibilities
of the materials and highlights the paradigm shift needed
within the building industry by reducing CO2
emissions,
resource extraction, land exploitation and energy use through
its significantly reduced environmental impact compared to
conventional building materials and sequestration of about
76 tons of CO2
. The result is a 4-storey residential building
on an infill-site in the urban setting of Gothenburg, adding a
new layer in the cityscape that tells us how we, by questioning
and breaking conventions, shifted to a more long-term
sustainable use of resources.
Description
Keywords
Straw, Low-impact materials, Urban re-densification, Vertical extension, Infill, Renewable materials, Circular economy, Upcycling, Prefabrication