"Einfach Bauen" in Bad Aibling shows three monolithic houses
The winning project of the German Sustainability Award for Architecture 2022 was announced at the beginning of December 2021. This year’s prize goes to the “Einfach Bauen” project in Bad Aibling. Read all about the project here.
Germany’s most prestigious architecture prize for sustainability (we already reported here: Sustainability Award Architecture 2022) goes to Bad Aibling this year. Here, the Munich-based firm Florian Nagler Architekten built three research houses with identical floor plans under the motto “Simply Building“. This motto perfectly reflects the premise under which the buildings were designed. The houses are designed to be as simple as possible, using few and unmixed materials. This saves construction time and costs. If necessary, the materials used can also be easily recycled.
The three “Einfach Bauen” houses are located on the B&O Group’s park in Bad Aibling. Initially, they look like two peas in a pod. Each of them offers space for eight residential units. On closer inspection, however, it becomes clear that the buildings are constructed from different materials. Wood, concrete and brick were used, each in single-shell and monolithic construction. In other words, without composite materials, which contain plastic, for example, and may make recycling impossible.
The concrete house is made of unreinforced insulating concrete. To avoid the mix of materials, the windows of the concrete building are also curved. The high thermal storage capacity of the concrete also makes the building climatically inert, so that no insulation layers are required. The timber house consists of three-layer wall elements made of cross-laminated timber layers. Inside the wooden walls, air cushions provide the necessary insulation, and they are also clad with rear-ventilated spruce boards. Additional layers of insulation are therefore not required here either.
Building services: as simple as possible
The “Einfach Bauen” houses in Bad Aibling are also as simplified as possible when it comes to building services. The building structure and the technical system are also as separate as possible. Pipes, for example, are mostly laid on the surface. This allows for quick repairs if necessary. Instead of complex underfloor heating systems, conventional radiators are used, which can be easily replaced. Architect Nagler also dispenses with complicated ventilation technology in the research houses. Instead, simple window rebate ventilators ensure the minimum air exchange in the apartments when the windows are closed.
The participants in the “Einfach Bauen” project at a glance:
Client: B&O Group
Architect: Florian Nagler Architects
Support: Einfach Bauen research center, TU Munich
Structural design: merz kley partner
Energy concept: Transsolar KlimaEngineering
Building physics: Horstmann + Berger
Fire protection: PHIplan