Safe House Image Credit: KVA
An award-winning building project by KVA Matx architects has embraced the latest renewable energy technology with the application of a soft architectural façade.
Known as Soft House, the project was first revealed in the prestigious International Building Exhibition (IBA) design competition and is now open for public viewing in Germany.
It is the world’s first tangible example of soft architecture; while exterior facades are typically durable masses of concrete or steel, Soft House’s façade consists of soft wood complemented by a moveable soft exterior.
KVA Matx principal Sheila Kennedy considers the innovative project a stepping stone to the next big trend in sustainable urban living.
“Architecture is a vehicle to bring new ideas to our culture,” she said. “Urban housing and cities need to become more enduring and resilient, responding to changes over time.”
Soft House Night Render. Image Courtesy of IBA
The dynamic structure is made up of four three-storey units and built to Passivhaus standards, ensuring its energy efficiency.
The wood used in the facade is spruce timber and can be completely recycled at the end of the building’s use, making it a more environmentally friendly alternative to conventional brick, concrete or steel exteriors.
The soft exterior component is made of up flexible photovoltaic textile strips that change position to respond to the sun’s orientation and two axis solar tracking system.
Located on the southern side of the building, the textile strips twist and turn like a sunflower moving in the sun to absorb as much sunlight as possible, which then produces clean energy to power the housing units.
Aesthetically, the moving façade adds different patterns and views to the building, complementing the architectural design.
In summer, parts of the soft façade have the ability to cast shade while also encouraging natural light to penetrate deep into the homes’ interiors during winter, conserving energy.
Underneath the twisting textile strips. Image Credit: KVA
The electricity generated from the façade feeds to transparent ‘smart curtain’ panels inside, allowing residents to move the partitions and regulate the heat in their own homes in real-time.
The smart curtains are also embedded with LED lighting should additional light be required.
“The Soft House is an ‘active’ house,” explained Kennedy. “The wood structure is enduring while the domestic infrastructure of energy, lighting, and space making become more like furnishings — mobile, interactive and connected to the soft house wireless network, a smart building management system.”
Soft House has successfully challenged the use of traditional hard energy building materials such as glass solar panels and Kennedy wants to encourage the architecture industry to consider energy infrastructure as a technology rather than as a new set of materials with which architecture can be made.
Smart Curtains. Image Credit: KVA
“The real impact and excitement of the Soft House comes with the idea of what can happen with this new model going forward,” she said.
Soft House is part of a 74-acre model community where new sustainable housing, work and leisure spaces will be built, monitored and ultimately occupied. It is now open for viewing on Wilhelmsburg Island in Germany’s River Elbe.
By Angela Fedele
All Images Source: Design Boom
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