Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Nordic Architecture & Design Special – Denmark
Left and top right: The sustainable temporary student dwellings by SANGBERG Architects are based on modular wooden construction and made in collaboration with Campus360. Photos: SANGBERG Architects and Campus360. Below right: When finished, Kronen will comprise 160 flats on top of an existing shopping centre in Vanløse. Bottom: Thanks to the modular wooden construction used in the design of Kronen, it was possible to build 160 homes in only around three months.
The sustainable wonders of wood By using sustainability as a design tool rather than an additional feature, SANGBERG Architects not only creates flexible and durable solutions, but also modernises the building site. Scan Magazine talks to founder and partner Jonas Sangberg about sustainability, modular wood construction, and robot technology. By Signe Hansen | Photos: SANGBERG Architects
When founding SANGBERG Architects, one of Jonas Sangberg’s main aims was to create a firm where sustainable design was an essential part of the practice. “We’ve come very far in Denmark when it comes to improving sustainability in regards to the operation and maintenance of buildings, but with regards to the carbon footprint of the construction, there’s still a way to go. What we want to prove is that if you incorporate sustainability at the very start of the design process, you can get very far without increasing resources or time,” says Sangberg. One of the ways to do this is to build in wood, a carbon positive building material, instead of concrete. In addition to cutting the building’s carbon footprint significantly, building with wood can also facilitate a faster, simpler and more precise construction process. “A lot of building sites look just like they did 60 years ago, and there are many ways to make that 46 | Issue 105 | October 2017
more efficient – to create something of better quality faster – and wood is one of them. When working with modular wood construction, you have an indoor production based on robot technology, and that means a different level of precision and quality,” explains Sangberg.
of working with modular wood construction is that it’s incredibly fast. In just half a year, we could have something ready for use,” explains Sangberg. “Another benefit is the fact that it’s so flexible. It’s possible to take them apart and move them somewhere else, but at the same time they have the same quality and spaciousness as a typical student residence.”
This is distinctively evident in Kronen, a remarkable financially and socially sustainable residential development in Vanløse created by SANGBERG Architects, Polyform, Werk Arkitekter, H+, Grontmij, Ingholt Ingeniører and Tetris A/S. By using 95 per cent complete modular wood construction, SANGBERG Architects managed to place 160 pre-fab homes on top of a shopping centre in only around three months. Sangberg hopes to be able to use the same technology to help meet Copenhagen’s acute demand for affordable student accommodation. “One of the advantages
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