What does it take to renew the whole architectural mindset of creating and building a wooden house? Two Danish architects Frederik Agdrup and Nicholas Bjørndal from the company called Eentileen.dk tested how 820 sheets of WISA plywood could be transformed into a fabricated house by utilizing a CNC machine. The result of their amazing pilot project ‘Print a House’ now stands in the middle of a Danish forest.
As the architects started to plan their ‘Print a House’ pilot project they networked with many partners, looked for sponsors and set the material requirements. Before choosing WISA-Spruce as the main material for implementing their idea, they conducted research on wooden materials and the outcome was clear, WISA was the best quality plywood material they could find on the global market.
“WISA-Spruce is the perfect material for our ‘Print a House’ concept“, Frederik Agdrup says and continues by pointing out the facts.
“It is both constructive and breathable. WISA plywood is also a PEFC certified material. The PEFC stamp is an eco-label that is identifiable to the purchaser at the time of sale. We are not only ecologically aware architects but extremely keen to start a whole new era in architecture and the building of wooden houses. It is important to us that the forest products are responsibly harvested but there is more to our approach.” The global PEFC stamp ascertains that the system for monitoring the origin of forest based wood raw material is according to the PEFC standard. This system tracks the wood flows used in the companies products from the production chain back to certified forests. This aspect is essential to Eentileen.dk and their collaborators in FACIT UK with whom the ‘Print a House’ concept was developed.
How can a house be printed out of wood?
Frederik Agdrup and Nicholas Bjørndal want to have control over both the architectural and building process, as renaissance architects responsibly did. Times differ and the digital age reveals new opportunities for machine wood. The architects believe in Co2 friendly and local production. “The ‘Print a House’ concept is a way to achieve "Genius Logi", the logic of the place, meaning every project depends on where it is placed”, Frederik Agdrup explains. “We seriously think that the price competition and manufacturing of goods in low labour countries have gone too far. It is time to commit both creative professionals and the common man to a new way of living and producing. With our method, a house can be built with only two people. Nothing was too heavy for us to lift ourselves”, the colleagues continue introducing their concept.
“Eentileen.dk wants to be a flexible architectural company and design houses that have quality in both material and architecture. This way of producing does not demand a big warehouse or heavy facilities. The logistics of WISA sheets can be conveniently managed. Everything is simulated on a computer. For the pilot project the exact fabrication of WISA-Spruce sheets was done by a CNC machine. It is a machine especially tailored for printing building blocks.”
“By using WISA we have been able to finalize an almost absolute cradle to cradle concept”, the architects point out the ecological advantages.
The construction industry is renowned for the strains it has caused to the environment. The natural habitat on which Villa Asserbo is built on is unharmed. The building has a raised ground floor and only the screw piles on which it stands on touch the ground. 125 square metres of living space are placed in the middle of beautiful trees, particularly designed for that spot in its natural environment. The inhabitants can enjoy the wildlife through large ventilation windows.
No concrete was used in the process so the carbon footprint is very low and the small amount of waste is recycled. “Building better and healthier houses - giving the building the same green and healthy qualities like organic food is one of our aims. We want to make it only one link for the customer from beginning to end. It is possible by combining elements from prefabrication to the customization” Frederik Agdrup explains.
The whole construction of Villa Asserbo is made of WISA plywood which can amaze the passerby. 820 sheets of 18mm thick WISA-Spruce have been made into about 420 building blocks and components (FPM modules by FACIT UK), a standard component being 60cm x 243cm x 30cm. All of the blocks uniquely join together.
The ‘Print a House’ method makes it possible to mass-customize houses and still produce them responsibly onsite.
“We have thoroughly considered the whole life cycle of the house in this project”, Frederik Agdrup and Nicholas Bjørndal summarize the all-encompassing way of thinking and acting as aware architects. “What makes the ventilation environment of the house special are the breathing wooden material, the granulated wood fibre insulation, and innovative ventilation windows. The windows add energy to the house instead of losing it”, they emphasize the overall control of building an energy effective house.
One of the next steps in developing the ‘Print a House’ concept is installing the machine on the building site - onsite production. Villa Asserbo is a high end product but in the future a ‘Print a House’ project might take place in different environments, even in a catastrophe zone. The very same method can be used for manufacturing low tech houses. Therefore, this idea could have considerable benefits to society.
Text by Hannaliisa Johnson