work
We love to test built solutions in reality. We also love to engage in innovation and research projects to push the limit of built sustainability. We decided to be a firm that do both. We innovate by testing in reality.
See below some examples of our realised and on-going projects.
Digitala Tomater / Digital Tomatoes
Team: Göteborg Energi, Greenhouse Living, Kajodlingen
Status: An ongoing conceptdesign for sustainable, urban foodproduction in Göteborg.
Client: Göteborg Energi.
Pre-study Financed by Viable Cities (Vinnova, Energimyndigheten, Formas).
Download The Complete Pre-Study here:
DIGITALA TOMATER:
Digital Tomatoes is about how we want to shape the sustainable cities of the future;
Cities where cycles of energy, water and industry close much more locally.
Cities that are resilient to crises and climate change.
Cities where we locally produce more of our food in a sustainable way.
Cities that affirm the latest digital technology to achieve sustainability.
Cities with human urban environments with a presence of cultivation and food production.
The city of the future is BOTH more DOWN TO EARTH and more VIRTUAL.
1. FOOD PRODUCTION OF THE FUTURE - IN THE CITY
A large part of households' climate impact comes from the food we eat. We cannot just look at energy efficiency, transportation and sustainable construction. We must find solutions for truly sustainable food production. Part of the solution is to sharply increase the proportion of food produced in cities.
Why?
Production close to consumers minimizes transport, provides access to freshly harvested and nutritious food, cultivation can be conducted energy- and water-efficiently, in cities there is enormous access to waste heat and nutrients, we break the dependence on fertilizers and pesticides. Food production and cultivation also become visible in people's everyday lives, which contributes greatly to attractive urban environments.
2. THE DIGITAL NEEDS OF THE FUTURE - EDGE DATA CENTERS
Digitization in society creates an increased need for server capacity to be able to process and manage data in different ways. Development is fast and new applications are coming, such as self-driving cars, real-time games, 5G, IoT and AI. The applications require higher data speeds and faster response times. Therefore, the data processing needs to be placed close to the user. The solution for this is local computing power in a new type of data center called Edge Datacenter. The development is fast and already within a few years, a large part of the companies' data will be handled in the local Edge Datacenter.
3. THE ENERGY SYSTEM OF THE FUTURE - WASTE HEAT, SOLAR CELLS & HYDROGEN
The servers in the data center generate waste heat that heats the greenhouses. LED cultivation lighting enables vegetable production all year round. Solar cells on the roof interact with fuel cell technology and store their energy in hydrogen storage.
1 + 2 + 3 = DIGITAL TOMATOES
Digital Tomatoes connects URBAN FOOD PRODUCTION with EDGE DATA CENTER and the absolutely latest ENERGY TECHNOLOGY. We have developed a concrete proposal that includes building design, technology solutions and operation. We have also calculated the economy for construction and operation with a view towards BUILDING a first facility in Gothenburg.
Ankis Greenhouse home
General consultant: Greenhouse Living
Location: Klippan, Sweden
Area: 90 m2 (150 m2 greenhouse)
Status: Under construction. Planned finalization spring 2021
Client: Anki Pozson
….Our client Anki came to us with a beautiful forest plot near Söderåsen's national park in Skåne (in the south of Sweden) and 4 existing housing units for temporary accommodation that she had bought 2nd hand. Maybe you could put them in a greenhouse …?
Vision:
The vision for the house is; A nearly self-sustainable house regarding; energy, water and nutrition. This is achieved by the integration of an unheated greenhouse in combination with well insulated, heated living-modules. The greenhouse protects the heated modules and reduces the energy-loss. The greenhouse also creates a Mediterranean-like climate with an extended growing season in the greywater-irrigated, food-producing, plantbeds on the roofterrace. Rainwater is harvested from the roof and reused. Electricity is produced by the solarcells in the glassroof. A house where the eco-cycles are closed on an extremely local scale – within a single house.
Architecture:
The house is a permanent residence for 2 people divided into one private sleeping module and one for the kitchen and for friends visiting. They are connected by the "conservatory" - a heated greenhouse-like room for dining and socializing that functions as a greenhouse-in-the-greenhouse. During the summer months, the sliding glass door opens up and the boundary against the outer greenhouse space is blurred. The sleeping modules and conservatory are enclosed by a greenhouse in single glass only heated by the sun. It creates fantastic outdoor spaces on the large roof terrace - the rather compact home (90 m2 heated livingarea) flows out into the 150 m2 greenhouse that extends over two floors. Compact and generous.
Eco-Cycle systems:
The household's gray water (bath, shower, laundry) is collected in a tank, and then distributed out into several plant beds for the cultivation of vegetables and greenery on the roof terrace. Irrigation and nourishment to the plants while simultaneously purifying waste water. In this project, the remaining about 10% of the waste water (black water from WC) is led to municipal sewage in the street. The black-water can also be recycled, but it requires larger plantbeds. (see project: Uppgrenna Naturhus). It is also a matter of legislation about the municipal sewer-system on the specific site
Rainwater is collected from the greenhouse roof and collected in a pond. It is re-used for flushing WC and for irrigation of plants in the greenhouse and the garden. This sawes great amounts of freshwater every year – a resource becoming more and more scarce, even in Sweden, due to climate change.
Greenhouse:
The greenhouse has a glue-lam wood frame. The glass-shell resting on the gluelam-frame is constructed by 4mm hardened single-glass, kept in place by aluminium profiles. The greenhouse is only heated by the sun and the temperature varies from around zero degrees on winter and up to 35 deg. On the roofterrace the hottest days in the summer. The heat is regulated by temperature-regulated ventilation hatches running all along the ridge. Shadow is also achiewed from the integrated solarcells, the surrounding trees and eventually, climbing greenery inside the greenhouse.
Energy efficiency:
The house is heated and ventilated with FTX technology for maximum heat recovery. Solar cells are integrated into the roof of the greenhouse and in combination with battery storage and a charging station for electric cars, most of the household's electricity consumption is produced locally. The greenhouse's protective effect keeps the heat losses from the house's heated parts down and the total energy performance of the home becomes very good.
Status:
Anki have recently (aug 2021) moved in to her new home and is now exploring it. An ambition is that this home can be a showcase and part of the time be open to visitors.
Terraced greenhouse homes
General consultant: Greenhouse Living
Location: Peri-urban to urban settings
Status: Conceptstudy
Client: private individuals or developer
This a Naturhus for a denser urban context. The 2 types of Terraced Greenhouse Homes we have developed is an affordable naturhus-typology designed for a more urban setting.
The basic design consist of a compact 3-4 room apartment on ground floor and a generous greenhouse-terrace on second floor. The idea is that you can expand the house yourself by adding insulated rooms to the upper level in different ways. When you need them and when you can afford it. Since the add-ons is restricted inside the greenhouse space, no building-permit is needed.
This eco-cycle housing concept includes great opportunities for cultivation and with fantastic climate protected greenhouse spaces. The glazed garden means extended spring and autumn seasons on the roof.
The gray water is circulated and purified locally in each house and contributes to the cultivation. A group of 20-30 terraced houses can share certain facilities locally, such as heating and blackwater purification. We believe that this concept would adapt perfectly to a group of self-builders (byggemenskaper) with a truly sustainable urban lifestyle in mind.
We are looking for interested developers to our terraced greenhouse homes, give us a call !
"Get a lott" - greenhouse apartments
General consultant: Greenhouse Living + Helhetshus arkitekter
Location: Göteborg, Sweden
Status: Competition entry for apartmentbuildings in wood in Gotenburg, Sweden. (markanvisningstävling)
Client: Tuve Bygg
Get a Lott
Here, rational wooden building technology meets innovative environmental technology and a holistic approach to sustainability. The vision is a sustainable building that produces food, instead of waste. A house where the residents share ideas and gadgets, and become aware of what the eat and what is being spilled into the drain. A house that, throughout its life cycle, minimizes its ecological footprint. A house and at the same time a greenhouse. The residents receive "a lot", an apartment and a farm in one.
GREENHOUSE APARTMENTS
We have created greenhouse apartments with the possibility of cultivation that resembles a country house with own garden. During large parts of the year, the greenhouse can be used and the living area increases. The greenhouse is heated by the sun and provides a climate corresponding to Northern Italy. There are fig trees and patios and a long growing season.
MORE SPACE FOR THE MONEY
The heated residential area is kept compact. The modular building system enables a rational and cost-effective construction. In this way, financial space is given to add the greenhouse to living space instead of expensive heated space. The result is a larger livingspace compared with conventional production.
A SUSTAINABLE FAMILY HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY
The apartments in the house are suitable for everyone, but especially families with children who otherwise seek out from the city center to get a child-friendly residence with ground contact. In the house there are two-storey 'row houses'. A rowhouse street with such a central location means sustainability even in a city-building perspective. In the basement you find the 'Tool-square'. Here you can renovate furniture, repair the bike and spend time with your neighbours. Transport demand is also a priority; There are plenty of bicycle sites supplemented with the possibility of bicycle shower and also a car pool powered by solarcells. The greenhouse balconies with plantbeds circulate rainwater and cleans grey-water from bath, dishes and laundry.
WOOD AND GREENERY PRESENCE IN THE STREETS
The greenhouse balconies are built with a pillar-beam structure of gluelam wood exposed in the exterior. The static simplicity of the construction provides associations to early modernism and connects the project to the surrounding functionalist architecture. The glass facades make the interior of the greenhouse a significant part of the building's external design. It gives a holistic impression of strong woodprecence, lush greenery and the lives of the residents in their greenhouses.
Stenmark Pizza & Burgers
General consultant: Greenhouse Living
Location: Trelleborg, Sweden
Status: Förfrågningsunderlag complete. Expected relization 2023
Client: Stenmark Pizza Burgare
High ambitions to create the best pizza and burger made by locally produced groceries in the "Worlds most climate smart restaurant building". Thorough studies about sustainable choice of material and investigations concerning energy will take this building far towards the goals. Residual heat from the wood oven will warm the conservatory, a part of the greenhouse, to give it an even, nice climate throughout the year. The heated greenhouseterrace on top of the kitchen contains a highly efficient cultivation of tomatoes and greenleafs to their own use in the restaurant. Graywater from the kitchen will be circulated in the cultivations completes the circular ambition. The guests will enjoy a all-year round experience of eating fantastic pizzas and burgers in a greenhouse environment.
Fjätervålen
General consultant: Greenhouse Living + AIX arkitekter
Location: Fjätervålen Ski resort, Dalarna, Sweden
Status: Parallell Competition. Winning proposal.
Client: Serneke
The task is to ceate a masterplan for Fjätervålen Skiresort i Dalarna, Sweden. Our client Serneke has the ambition that it should be the most sustainable skiresort i Scandinavia. Greenhouse Living, in close collaboration with AIX arkitekter, came up with an overall solution containing a car-free masterplan, 100% wood-constructions, solarcells covering all roofsurfaces, a source-separated wastewater system, production-greenhouses to provide here-produced vegetables etc..
AIX arkitekter, the big architect company with a unique experience in massive-wood contructions in combination with Greenhouse Livings eco-cycle-approach to urban- and buildingdesign.
Lindbacken Naturhus
General consultant: Greenhouse Living
Location: Uppsala, Sweden
Area: 140 sqm (400 sqm greenhouse)
Status: Completed 2017
Client: private
A private greenhouse accommodation for a family with children in Uppsala municipality. The villa has a large greenhouse room in two levels facing south, lower level with plant bed while the upper greenhouse room serves as a terrace for socializing with dining areas, outdoor kitchen and barbecue. The greenhouse has a woodframe cladded with insulated glas-panels. The plant bed purifies gray water from the shower and laundry, and converts the nutrients into fruits and vegetables. The roof covering, made of solar cells supplies the villa with electricity.
"GöteborgsMat" - city district greenhouse
Team GöteborgsMat: City of Göteborg - dep. of urban farming (stadsnära odling), Greenhouse Living, Kajodlingen, Stadsjord
Status: A prestudy 2019 for a design of a city district greenhouse and a network for urban foodproduction i Göteborg.
Client: the city of Göteborg
link to full report (pdf):
https://stadsnaraodling.goteborg.se/wp-content/uploads/STADSDELSV%C3%84XTHUS-GBG_utskick.pdf
The district greenhouse – Stadsdelsväxthus - can produce food in the form of fish and vegetables in a significant amount. A district greenhouse can function as a hub for food distribution of smaller producers, so that consumers more easily can shop for locally produced, high quality food. It may include education facilities for educating more urban growers and work as a meeting place for residents in the district. It can welcome visitors from all over the world and demonstrate and teach how cities can organize their food needs.
The proposal also contains an idea of a distribution network where smaller growers are connected to district greenhouses and larger commercial growers. In the future, we shop locally produced food and Gothenburg can stand for a significant part of its own food consumption.
Will Göteborg become the first city with organized urban farming?
Rosenlund Naturhus
General consultant: Greenhouse Living
Location: south of Vadstena, Sweden
Area: 220 sqm (400 sqm greenhouse)
Status: under construction, expected completion autumn 2020
Client: Roja Brimalm, Johan Holmstedt
Rosenlund Naturhus is a private greenhouse home positioned in the magificent agrarian landscape just south of Vadstena, Sweden. The house and the greenhouse are placed with the fantastic views in mind. The generous greenhouse (400 sqm) encloses the whole core house except for the gable towards the east. It will be filled with plantbeds for cultivation and as a part of the full eco-cycle system that will take care of the treatment of the wastewater, transforming it into fruits and vegetables.
Uppgrenna Naturhus
General consultant: Greenhouse Living
Location: Uppgränna, Sweden
Area: 520.0 sqm (200 sqm greenhouse)
Status: Completed 2015
Client: www.uppgrennanaturhus.se
Photographs: Ulf Celander
A conference/cafe/event- building in Uppgränna, Sweden. An existing red barn was demolished and replaced by a modern building with ground floor partly submerged in the slope. The upper entrance level consists of an insulated building partly surrounded by an unheated greenhouse that extends over the entire roof. The greenhouse includes room for plant beds and shelter terraces with expansive views of Lake Vättern and has a climate comparable to that of Northern Italy. The exterior is portrayed with inspiration from traditional Swedish barn houses, with its simple doors and shutters. All windows and doors fitted with shutters in a red wooden panel wall. This adds dynamics to the façade and reduces heat radiation when the house is not in use.
Eco-Cycle:
The greenhouse allows for a closed local loop of recycling sewage waste. Large plant beds cleanse and take up nutrients in the wastewater, converting these into fruit and vegetables. The house does not require connection to the municipal sewage system. Living in a greenhouse encourages a sustainable and non-toxic lifestyle. It becomes very clear why you should not emit pollutants in the environment, as it returns to your own recycling system.
Season 5 "1st prize - urban food from residual heat"
Team Season5: Greenhouse Living, Kajodlingen, Västsvenska handelskammaren, Stadsjord
Status: Winning Entry in the international innovation-competition: "urban food from residual heat"
https://www.climate-kic.org/events/open-innovation-urban-food-from-residual-heat/
SEASON 5 - a modular system for urban foodproduction
Season 5 combines space efficient fish farming with high-efficient vegetable production in greenhouses into one integrated package. A scalable and spatially flexible system developed to fit in to a big variety of dense, urban situations. From a corner of a housing block to the top floor of a parking-garage.
Urban fish farm + Roof top Greenhouse
Shipping containers contains the urban fishfarm. The modular fish farm is designed to be scalable and consists of “lines” independent of each other. It can be scaled up or down (2,3,4 lines etc.) depending on the site conditions and the investment budget. The containers are placed on simple plinths to reduce foundation costs and clad in an insulated “skin” with a nicely designed wood-façade with doors and lids that can meet high design-standards of an urban site.
On top of the containers we place a high-efficient, hydroponic, vegetable cultivation. Here we have good natural-light conditions to reduce the use of energy to artificial lights. 2 types of cultivation techniques are used: hydroponic towers for herbs like basil, parsley etc. and hydroponic beds for tomatoes. Both are watered with nutrient-rich 28deg fish water from the fish farm to ensure maximum harvest to a minimum environmental impact. The rooftop and one side of the containers are covered with a wood-frame greenhouse. The greenhouse contains the vegetable cultivation, a “greenhouse classroom” for meetings and pedagogical activities and a “public greenhouse” with a fish + vegetable shop for direct sales of here-grown food to people living and working nearby.
The season5 cuts the delivery-chains and bring food to the consumers and makes the production of food present in the city. The aim is to present good food to the consumers with a lower cost to the oceans and the overall environment. And, at the same time, contribute to a more pleasant, small scale, green and meaningful urban environment.
Sundby Naturhus
General consultant: Greenhouse Living
Location: Vallentuna, Sweden
Area: 150 m2 (240 m2 greenhouse)
Status: Completed (almost) in 2018.
Client: http://www.sundbynaturhus.se/naturhus/
Image 1 and 3 are from Publication; "Naturhus", Natur&Kultur. Photo by: Christian Gustavsson
Private greenhouse home for a family in the municipality of Vallentuna, north of Stockholm. A two-story house in load bearing timber placed inside a greenhouse and thereby moved to a climate more equivalent to northern Italy, than the actual location in central Sweden. The unheated greenhouse single glass facade protects the house against wind, rain and snow and creates generous outdoor space with fantastic qualities. The inner façade consists of simple oiled woodpanel with integrated zones for facade plants. A lush timber cube covered with glass.
The greenhouse allows for a closed local cycle of plant beds that purifies and absorbs the nutrients in the wastewater and transforms it into fruits and vegetables. The house is not connected to a municipal sewagesystem.
Tech Farm
General consultant: Greenhouse Living
Location: Stockholm (several sites)
Status: Conceptual design for a Co-Live/Co-work concept. Developed at a number of different sites around Stockholm.
Client: https://www.techfarm.life/
Tech Farm is about sharing. Share for a sustainable lifestyle. As a member of the Tech Farm community, you share ideas, thoughts, contacts and knowledge with your friends in the collective. One also shares the physical resources needed for a whole lifestyle. Housing, workplace, garden, gym, storage room, kitchen, sauna, restaurant, farms, meeting places, washing machine, wifi and compost.
Tech Farm has a very compact organization and in the proposal "Tech Farm Stockholm", which accommodates 80 residents, it has 37m2 heated surface + 5m2 greenhouse area / person. This includes housing, workplace and supplementary premises such as restaurant, gym, spa and hobby room and workshop. By comparison, the average housing area in Stockholm is 34m2, average office space / workplace 15m2 and to this is added the above mentioned supplementary premises.
The building's frame and insulation consist of wood. Wood is renewable, stores carbon dioxide and is relatively energy-efficient in manufacturing. Can also enable quick assembly. Its relatively low weight can also reduce concrete use in the foundation. Solar cells cover the facade and parts of the greenhouse roofs. This makes the house partially self-sufficient on electricity and thanks to a smart design of battery storage, you can cut power peaks and shift the use of the solar-generated electricity from daytime to em / evening. Which increases the proportion of used solar electricity. The building is dimensioned according to the international passive house standard and thanks to a well insulated shell, compact form factor, smart installation control and home automation, you reach a heating demand as low as 10 kwh / m2 / year. (according to the passive house standard max. 15kwh / m2 / year). In combination with solar cells, it allows the house to reach a level of plus energy building. Ie a building that actually provides energy to the surroundings.
The greenhouses act as the garden of the house and offer lush arborets, tomato farms, patios, and kitchen gardens. The plant beds (totaling about 300m2) purify the house's BDT water by infiltrating the processed wastewater. Pollutants are broken down by microorganisms in the bed and the plants absorb nutrients and water and produce greenery and fruits and vegetables. The residents become partially self-sufficient in vegetables and fruits.
The vision is a sustainable building that produces food, instead of waste. A house where the residents share living space, knowledge, ideas and gadgets. A house that generates energy instead of just consuming it and finally, introducing reflection and learning about what you stop in and what you flush down the drain. What you flush down comes back to your own circulatory system and into the tomatoes you eat for breakfast. A sustainable architecture that promotes a truly sustainable lifestyle.
Munkaskog Naturvillor
General consultant: Greenhouse Living
Location: Habo, Sweden
Status: Masterplanconcept (not realised)
Client: Johan Ihrman
A masterplanstudy for a "naturhus-village". A modern Eco-village. Single-family houses mixed with apartment-villas and a kindergarten gathered around a common "meadow". Each household has a private greenhouse attached to the apartment for cultivation, hand-out and for a local eco-cycle of greywater. The village share a common greenhouse that also functions as a local plant for purification of blackwater and generation of bio-gas. A "Naturban" way of living that embrace the natural cycles of water, nutrition and energy in a structure with many "Village-qualities".
Orangeri Brogyllen
General consultant: Greenhouse Living
Location: Mölndal, Sweden
Status: Building permission granted. Expected relization 2022
Ovanpå bageriet till den klassiska konditorikedjan Brogyllen planeras ett uppvärmt växthus = Orangeri att byggas. Enorma mängder spillvärme från de nästan dygnet-runt aktiva bakugnarna skall återvinnas och värma växthuset för att ge möjlighet till året-runt aktivitetr. Här ryms serveringsyta för cafégäster, beredningskök för produktutveckling och event.
Naturhus N
General consultant: Greenhouse Living
Location: -
Status: Conceptstudy
A compact naturhus with a minimized footprint, designed for a hilly site.
Skyhouse
General consultant: Greenhouse Living
Location: Dalsland, Sweden
Status: Competition proposal for "Dalslandsstugan 2.0". 2015
A compact greenhouse villa where the plant bed is located on the roof, giving a cultivable roof terrace with 360 ° views.
The insulated volume is kept down to reduce production costs, but in return the property expands into the greenhouse, and on a sunny day you have a 140 m² "spiral-shaped" living room that extends from the main house up the staircase to the roof garden. The accommodation is well suited for hilly terrain, as the plinth base makes minimal impact on the landscape and since the own sewage is taken care of and cleaned in tanks and plant beds, the building can be placed “off-grid”. Placing the plant bed on the roof saves a lot of groundsurface. The concept has great potential in urban, urban environments, such as townhouses / semi-detached houses in urban environments.
Skyhouse is a development project to develop ideas and technical solutions for a more compact and cost-effective nature house. A full-scale prototype house is under construction and will be erected at Anders Solvarm in Sikhall, Dalsland.
Växthusladan - Greenhouse barn
General consultant: Greenhouse Living
Location: -
Status: Conceptstudy for an exposition on innovative wood construction
Our greenhouse combines the traditional Swedish barn and a greenhouse and. The barn is split in the middle and there is a greenhouse that serves as an extra living room that expands and decreases the living space throughout the year. Simple house shape, simple façade solutions, reduced heated living space, high energy recovery provide a good economy.
2 houses in one. The greenhouse is the heart of the home. Here you pass every day between the kitchen and the bedroom. You go out into the rain- and wind-protected but unheated greenhouse all year round. You experience the changes of the seasons. The heated surfaces have been reduced. Can you replace 10 m² of warm living room with 30 m² of greenhouse ?
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