The Snøhetta working culture has been readily embraced within the ZEB Centre – creating assemblies for rich collaborative constellations between the Centre's industry partners thereby strengthening the research field.
Snøhetta is the architect of four of the Centre's pilot projects; Zero Village Bergen (Ådland/ master plan/ 700 homes just south of Flesland), Powerhouse Brattørkaia (completed preliminary project/ commercial building 13 000m2), Powerhouse Kjørbo (rehabilitated building 5400m2) and ZEB Pilot house Larvik (Multikomfort / demonstration house 202m2). The latter two projects are completed, and have received widespread attention both nationally and internationally for their technical, aesthetic and user-centric innovations.
In addition to theoretical and practical knowledge about zero-emission buildings and zero-emission areas, Snøhetta has through the management of the interdisciplinary engineering and design development, gained experience with process management, new forms of interaction and new forms of documentation. The high level of ambition the ZEB pilots has demanded new thinking within and across all disciplines as well as between industries and businesses. This has helped to establish a solid, plenary working environment where all stakeholders are working towards a common goal.
Main activities at ZEB:
Snøhetta has participated in numerous national and international conferences with material connected to the ZEB pilots since the launch of Powerhouse Brattørkaia in 2012. This has contributed to a considerable qualitative lift to not only our expertise, but also the level of dissemination between disciplines and structuring of projects; acting as a catalyst between academia and industry. This communication material related to the pilots is commonly used by the ZEB Centre, lowering the threshold for media access to research materials. The pilot projects have held a central focus in the ZEB conferences since 2013.
Snøhetta is also engaged in education programs evolving around the ZEB methodology at the Faculty of Architecture and Fine Art at NTNU, the Oslo school of Architecture and Design (AHO) and the School of Architecture and Allied Arts at the University of Oregon, USA.
Snøhetta and ZEB pilot projects:
2011 (on going) Powerhouse Brattørkaia – Architecture, Interior and Landscape. Ill: Snøhetta / MIR
2011 (on going) Powerhouse Brattørkaia – Architecture, Interior and Landscape. Ill: Snøhetta
2012 – 2014 Powerhouse Kjørbo – Architecture and Interior.
2012 – 2014 Powerhouse Kjørbo – diagrams explaining principals in ventilation strategy. Ill: Snøhetta
2012 – 2014 ZEB Pilot House Larvik – Architecture, Interior and Landscape.
2012 – 2014 ZEB Pilot House Larvik – Architecture, Interior and Landscape. Photo: Bruce Damonte
2012 (on going) Zero Village Bergen (Ådland) – Architecture and Landscape. Ill:: Snøhetta
Innovational work at ZEB
Positive experiences from the work within the pilot projects has encouraged Snøhetta to engage in new research constellations; Natural acclimatization in Office buildings (NATKLIM) in cooperation with Skanska and SINTEF and House Zero in collaboration with the Graduate School of Design (GSD) at Harvard University.
Proposed solutions within the pilot projects have in themselves generated sub-projects either perpetuated within the ZEB Centre or within other research programs lead by SINTEF.
Examples of registrated innovations related to ZEB pilot projects:
• Reflecting foil comparisons in subterranean crawl space – ZEB pilot house Larvik
• Measurement of air/convection flows within the insulated building envelope – ZEB pilot house Larvik
• Circular simulation path combining the design of window openings for daylight and view (arch 3D-modell BIM) - ZEB pilot house Larvik
• Subterranean wooden structures in parking garages and foundations – ZEB Zero village Bergen
• Simulation method for verification of sound reduction (from airport) in outdoor spaces as an effect of building mass - ZEB Zero village Bergen
• Exchange interface for LCA calculation – ZEB Zero Village Bergen/Pilot house Larvik
• The combination of baffles in the ceiling, on the interior walls in addition to air gaps in the climate walls to solve the acoustic issues caused by exposed concrete (acting as thermal mass) and low floor to ceiling height – Powerhouse Kjørbo
• The spiral stair in Powerhouse Kjørbo working as an air extract due to a ventilation strategy with extremely low pressure drops and slow air speed - reads as a new architectural concept and will be repeated in future office buildings using displacement ventilation strategy - Powerhouse Kjørbo
2012 (on going) Zero Village Bergen (Ådland). Innovation: Simulation method for verification of sound reduction (from airport) in outdoor spaces as an effect of building mass. Ill:: Snøhetta
2012 – 2014 Powerhouse Kjørbo – Architecture and Interior. Innovation: The spiral stair working as an air extract due to a ventilation strategy with extremely low pressure drops and slow air speed.
2012 – 2014 Powerhouse Kjørbo – Architecture and Interior. Innovation: The combination of baffles in the ceiling, on the interior walls in addition to air gaps in the climate walls to solve the acoustic issues caused by exposed concrete (acting as thermal mass) and low floor to ceiling heights.
2012 – 2014 ZEB Pilot House Larvik – Architecture, Interior and Landscape. Innovation: Circular simulation path combining the design of window openings for daylight and view (arch 3D-modell BIM). Ill: Snæhetta
