Brick House
What if a house can last at least five generations instead of two?
LETH & GORI’s Brick House is a project that creates innovation by reinventing history. By revisiting materials and solutions from historic houses which have proven to be robust and have a long life span a new type of contemporary sustainable house is created.
Brick House is part of a development project titled Mini-CO2 houses initiated by the philanthropic foundation Realdania. The goal of Realdania’s project is to develop affordable sustainable houses with a low CO2 footprint. A total of six houses have been built on a site in Nyborg Denmark. Each house with a different approach to how CO2 reduction can be achieved for example by focusing on materials and building techniques or by focusing on aiding the inhabitants to reduce CO2.
A [long] living house
Brick House has two main objectives; to create a house which is maintenance free for 50 years; and to create a house with a life span of minimum 150 years.
Reducing complexity
Brick House is based on a vision of a house that is alive and can breathe. This vision is realised by reducing the wall construction of the house to one material; clay. By using clay blocks and bricks a solid and homogeneous and first of all simple outer wall is created. This outer wall is diffusion-open thus allowing the building to breathe just like the traditional solid brick houses that have proven to last. In addition the reduction to one wall material reduces the number of joints between different materials and the potential building mistakes that these joints traditionally causes.
The solid brick walls result in a robust and healthy house with a long lifespan, good indoor climate and low maintenance.
Revisiting history
Brick House rediscovers knowledge and techniques from traditional brick houses in Denmark. Especially the houses from the era of the National Association for Better Building Traditions [Bedre Byggeskik] from the beginning of the 20’est century has served as examples. As the name suggests these houses have a strong focus on creating buildings that are built well with good technical solutions, craftsmanship and materials. Brick House uses the same principles to build a contemporary home with a long life span thus adapting the best of historic buildings but at the same time integrating new knowledge and techniques. The result is a house that radiates qualities of architecture and craftsmanship.
Place: Steensager 4, Nyborg, Denmark
Competition start: April 2013
Completion: November 2014
Official inauguration June 2014
Area: 136 m2.
Budget: 2.4 mil. DKK
