Design Project winter semester 23/24 : climate.protection.hut
Climate influences how we build. How we build influences the climate. The consequences of the interaction between building and climate are directly noticeable in high alpine terrain. Mountain huts and shelters built as places of rest and refuge for alpinists are exposed to extreme weather conditions. They therefore require a correspondingly robust design and great care in planning and construction. The surrounding landscape is changing rapidly due to disappearing glaciers, rockfalls and flora and fauna adapting to rising temperatures. Anthropogenic climate change, and therefore the way we build, is partly responsible for this.
Due to the inherent advantages of the material and the alpine building tradition, the choice of wood as a material for the construction of our mountain hut is an obvious one. A combination with the locally available stone is certainly worth considering. In order to be able to construct our refuge in the desired high quality within the short summer, we have to achieve the highest possible degree of prefabrication. If only it weren't for the limiting factor of helicopter transport. But beware: every flying hour generated by inconsistent planning produces unnecessaryCO2 emissions and high costs, so it hurts twice as much. Repairs are not exactly easy in this environment, which is why we should take enough time to select suitable types of wood and plan the (structural) wood protection.
The potential of various load-bearing systems and timber construction products for our intended use was analysed in the design. The topic of "prefabrication and transport" played a major role here. Current and expected future important types of wood were discussed in terms of their local availability and suitable areas of application. As the semester progressed, the knowledge gained resulted in a consistent design that explores the structural potential of timber construction.
Supervisor: Dr. Thomas Ehrhart (Visiting professor)
1st Examiner: Prof. Dr. Jan Knippers
2nd Examiners: Prof. Martin Ostermann, Prof. Thomas Löffler, Dr. Thomas Ehrhart