Competition project for Mustad Eiendom
Lillehagen is planned as a healthy and health-promoting housing project, where both people and nature will be at the centre.
Lillehagen is the first construction projects in Mustad Eiendom’s large-scale urban development project; The future city of Lilleaker; Lilleakerbyen. Lilleakerbyen will be built for our time, dealing with the opportunities and challenges that this century brings. This century’s challenges are all about repair. We must build up where we have destroyed and invite nature back into our cities and homes. To achieve this, we need to leave behind thoughts of houses and cities as machines, that have governed planning and building the last century. The city of the future is part of a larger whole, a biotope, cycle and globe. The city of the future is soft and should have a human scale, with people and nature at the center. The city of the future is built with sustainable natural materials that are part of the small carbon cycle. We will be able to regenerate the materials we use to build the city of the future.
Gardens and yard
The yard connecting the three buildings is a gathering place for the entire neighborhood. In the project, emphasis has been placed on both visual and physical contact to the sky, plants, soil, water and neighbors. The yard and gardens are shaped so that zones are formed without hard boundaries, making the space seem larger. The zones will provide the experience of different layers of privacy. The acoustics of the yard are dampened by a varied topology and the geometry of the buildings. Between what we have called Buildings A and B is the stormwater pool, which will serve as a playground and a shallow water mirror. At the same time, the water mirror will reflect sunlight to the facades in the autumn and spring months, before flowering and deciduous falls, thus enhancing the experience of sunny hours. Building C is the main house in the yard, and the portal to the street goes through the first floor. On the urban side of Building C, a lively street is set up, with a café, flower shop and children’s library. To the south, where the plot meets the new zoning plan for Lilleakerbyen, lies in the wetlands for stormwater management. Facilitating for a teeming birdlife and an abundant biological biotope.
The buildings
The buildings are based on bioclimatic principles, where we use biological, ecological and climatic conditions to adapt and optimize the architecture. The project is built exclusively from regenerative materials and the houses are built of wood from façade to furnishing. As insulation material, we use wood fiber insulation, a surplus product from the wood industry. This combination allows us to build a breathable structure, a dynamic climate shell that works with nature. The exterior is painted, using composition paint on the roofs, and linen paint on vertical surfaces. These are durable natural products that can withstand the Norwegian climate. In the interior we have used a combination of untreated wooden surfaces, elm, cherry, oak and birch. Painted surfaces are treated with paint products with 0% VOC content, so we prevent harmful degassing. Natural ventilation is planned for all the buildings, and all homes have a fireplace or wood-burning stove. The buildings flow out into the lush outdoor areas of the yard, with water mirrors and plenty of vegetation. The boundary between the rooms on the ground floor, gardens and yard are blurred, making nature a natural part of the dwelling. All kitchens in the project face the yard. In this way, we create social security in the housing project where it is safe to play. Outside the safe neighborhood yard lies the urban street with coffee shops, the tram and the city to the east.
Rooftops
All buildings have roof terraces, either private or shared, with possibilities for greenhouse cultivation, which can also serve as a conservatory during the shoulder months. Glass covered stairwells up to ceilings act both as greenhouses and bring light into the attic living rooms. At the same time, this space will draw warm air out of the house on hot summer days, as part of the ventilation concept, and at the same time create a separate microclimate for plant growth.