Portugal-based young architecture and graphic design office metroquadrado® has completed the refurbishment project Small Big AP.

+ Project description by Susana Saraiva

INTRO
I know, we all want to do things from scratch so that all our intellectual creativity can be set loose, but the truth is, cities are becoming bigger and bigger every day and it is just not environmentally sustainable to demolished all the outdated buildings in the world, even those who seem to have no architecture value at all.

Small Big AP, image courtesy metroquadrado®

Whether we are talking about housing our any other function, the need to convert old buildings into new functions constitutes a current contemporary need, and architects must get used to the idea of working with preexistent buildings, transforming old programs into new ones. But let me be clear, I am not just talking about world heritage classified historic buildings, but of all the ordinary construction that characterizes most of our cities.

Small Big AP, image courtesy metroquadrado®

Contemporary cities are full of buildings that we consider to have no value whatsoever but, impossible to be demolished and substituted for new ones. It is an impossibility in terms of quantity but also of sustainability. The contemporary culture of use and dismiss can not be extended to construction. We must get used to the idea of recycling our constructed heritage.

We also must get used to the idea of reorganizing slight recent buildings, because the speed of change in contemporary lifestyles is increasing drastically.

Small Big AP - Zoning comparison diagram, drawing courtesy metroquadrado®

Small Big AP - Layout plan comparison, drawing courtesy metroquadrado®

Small Big AP - Section, drawing courtesy metroquadrado®

CONCEPT
This is a project reflects the last situation: a residential building dating from the end of 1990s, is set on one of the most valuable areas of the city of Porto, Portugal. The client, wants to live in this area, near to his office and the city economic center, but cant find a place considered suitable for its taste and lifestyle.

A coincidence informed him of a vacant apartment in this building: a 3 bedroom apartment, plus one small room, 3 bathrooms, small kitchen, living area. The private and public areas are mixed, the internal space, even if with good area, is very compartmented, seeming quite small.

The only rule: the living area has to face west, the river view.

The client, his girlfriend and their dog want a maximized space, free of unnecessary divisions, appropriated for receiving friends and having formal and informal gatherings. They still want 3 rooms.

The proposal clarifies the division between public and private areas. The public space is completely open, capable of being partially enclosed if some privacy is needed but mainly open. The bedrooms are conceived as independent units: each bedroom has is one closet and bathroom. This way, there is no need for unnecessary corridors: as you leave your bedroom your in the public space. The end result is a completely different space experience even if the shell remains. SAME USE, DIFFERENT PROGRAM.

Small Big AP, image courtesy metroquadrado®

Small Big AP, image courtesy metroquadrado®

+ Project credits / data

Project: Small Big AP
Company: metroquadrado® architects & designers | http://www.metroquadrado.net/
Profile: creative office dedicated to research and development on architecture, graphic and web design. Criticize. Constructively create content.
Photograph: Bernardo Portugal for metroquadrado®
Project Credit: Susana Saraiva for metroquadrado®

Use: Residential (apartment)
Year: 2009-2010
Location: Boavista, Porto, Portugal
Previous program: 3 bedrooms, plus one small room, 3 bathrooms, 1 small kitchen, 1 living room
New program: 3 bedrooms with bathroom and closet; guest bathroom, open kitchen, living room, work station, laundry
Area: 160m2;
Cost: 100.000euros.

+ All images and drawings courtesy metroquadrado®

BIG (DK) + Pirmin Jung Engineers for Wood Constructions (CH) + AOA Anttinen Oiva Architects Ltd (FI) + Vahanen Engineers (FI) + Stora Enso (FI) is the winning team to design a prototype wooden construction system for a pilot project in Kouvola, Finland that will serve as a showcase for the sustainable use of timber construction worldwide.

To meet the increasingly stringent environmental requirements of Finnish industrialized construction, the E2 Ecology & Economy timber development competition aims to find a conceptual design solution for large-scale production of wooden multi-story buildings. A 15.000 m2 prefabricated wooden development in Kouvola, Finland will serve as a showcase for replicable and locally adaptable cost- and energy efficient housing. BIG's proposal PUU-BO is today announced as one of two winning entries of the two-staged invited competition totaling 26 international proposals, which included wood construction specialists Hermann Kaufmann from Austria and wood producer Finnforest among many others.

E2 Ecology + Economy Competition - Diagram, drawing courtesy BIG

E2 Ecology + Economy Competition, render courtesy BIG

PUU-BO was the only proposal to truly acknowledge the aspiration of the E2 Competition: to look at the surroundings of the build¬ings and the spaces in between as potential opportunities for green development.

Jury, E2 (Ecology + Economy)

Wood as construction material brings a double benefit: remarkably reduced emissions in its production and fabrication and improved energy efficiency of the buildings where it is used. Currently, only a fragment of multi-story buildings utilize timber construction in Finland, a country known for its timber production. BIG's PUU-BO is a comprehensive prefab solution designed to be both extremely flexible and materially efficient. PUU-BO's conception as a system based on best practices and not predefined standard elements, gives it an embodied intelligence and ensures its viability for the future. The system's easy adaptability to a variety of building typologies and uses, opens up new possibilities for prefabricated wood systems beyond the residential market – the very same elements in the residential pilot project could be used in an office building or even a wood skyscraper with no loss in material efficiency.

E2 Ecology + Economy Competition, render courtesy BIG

BIG's point of direction was to design an innovative system that can fit any built environment for any type of use. Rather than developing a system based on current market demands, we wanted to make a system so flexible it can embrace as many building typologies and functionalities as possible. Instead of making the most carbon neutral system at present; we develop a system that evolves into the future. This way the system respects the ever increasing key drivers for sustainability while being competitive with other building systems.

Thomas Christoffersen, Partner-in-Charge, BIG

A site with generous views towards public green areas and the city's river has been specifically selected for this pilot project by the city of Kouvola. The location allows the volume of the proposed building to push from one side to the other side to integrate the park and parking along the development. BIG's proposal follows the contours of the landscape creating semi-private pockets directly connected to the park while the height of the building is manipulated to peak towards the open areas. The pockets are surrounded by lower housing creating an intimate space where all units are connected to the ground. The areas with the best views have the most floors and the most apartments while all roofs are partially accessed by the penthouse apartments and all units at ground floor have access to private gardens to both sides.

E2 Ecology + Economy Competition, render courtesy BIG

Le Corbusier's DOMI-NO system was developed to industrialize construction with the new technologies of concrete structures, and improve living conditions for the many. Decades later concrete housing has become synonymous with boxy and boring. By crossbreeding state of the art building technology and wood construction PUU-BO provides endless variability with infinite renewability.

Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Partner, BIG

BIG's E2 proposal combines a variety of housing typologies – from 8-story apartment buildings to low townhouses with a shared courtyard space. Along both sides of the building a pedestrian path connects the private gardens to parking and park. The path blends with the existing network, integrating the building with the park, river and city. Playgrounds, sports fields, and a community sauna in the river are strategically placed in order to activate the site. All activities are available to both the PUU-BO inhabitants as well as the citizens of Kouvola.

E2 Ecology + Economy Competition, render courtesy BIG

E2 Ecology + Economy Competition, render courtesy BIG

+ About E2

The city of Kouvola in cooperation with the Finnish Forest Industries association, the Finnish Forest Foundation, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation SITRA, KSS-Energia Oy and the Regional Council of Kymenlaakso aims at fostering new solutions for industrial production of wooden multi-story buildings through the launch of E2 Timber Development Competition and a future Centre of Competence in Timber Construction, "Wood-Inno". The concept competition is expected to offer energy efficient solutions which reduce the carbon foot print, and could help Finland to take leadership in the field of timber construction worldwide.

+ About BIG

BIG, founded in 2005 by Bjarke Ingels, is an architectural office currently involved in a large number of projects throughout Europe, Asia and North America. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark and with a newly opened office in New York, USA the office is led by six Design Partners, including Bjarke Ingels, Andreas Klok Pedersen, Finn Norkjaer, Thomas Christoffersen, Jakob Lange, David Zahle and two Management Associate Partners, Sheela Maini Sogaard and Kai-Uwe Bergmann. BIG's architecture emerges out of a careful analysis of how contemporary life constantly evolves and changes, not least due to the influence of multicultural exchange, global economic flows and communication technologies that together require new ways of architectural and urban organization.

+ About Pirmin Jung

PIRMIN JUNG Ingenieure für Holzbau AG is a leading engineering specialist for multiple-storey timber constructions. For the past 15 years, Pirmin has worked closely with designers and architects, creating efficient sustainable and long-lasting wooden solutions worldwide.

+ Project credits / data

Name: E2 Ecology and Economy
Program: Residential housing
Type: Prequalified Competition
Size: 15,000m2, 8 storey prefabricated wood construction
Client: City of Kouvola, Finland
Collaborators: AOA, Pirmin Jung Holzbauingenieur, Vahanen, Stora Enso
Location: Kouvola, Finland

Architect: BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group | http://www.big.dk/
Partner in Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Thomas Christoffersen
Project Leader: Brian Yang
Team: Krista Meskanen, Jelena Vucic, Alina Tamosiunaite, Alessandro Ronfini, Cecilia Ho, Elisha Nathoo, Sunming Lee, Long Zhuo, Mads Bjorn Christiansen

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