Designed for the German company Ecolohe, the Fire-House is a heat generation plant that uses the combustion of biomass for both residential and industrial use. In this case part of a larger plan for the transformation of a 175-acre American military base north of the Bavarian town of Bad Aibling, it is the prototype of a modular system capable of generating heat for both small groups of houses and entire towns and in this specific case.
The heating system, a 500-kilowatt boiler with a capacity for generating up to 2,300 MWh, has been inserted within an eight-by-eight-meter structure. The form of its compact volume and pitched roof were loosely inspired by the chapel of S. Vito in the Italian region of Alto Adige.
Externally, it is clad in larch shingles, creating a uniform and organic texture. As a small building fully integrated into its context, it conceals sustainable technologies resulting in zero CO2, zero waste, zero kilometers.
