Introducing P PODS

 

friendly ECO homes that save energy in construction too...

 

 

 

IMAGOarchitects have linked up with MODULUS SOLUTIONS to design and produce some lovely new Passivhaus holiday homes.

Commissioned for a lakeside location in Dorset, twenty four Passiv POD homes will be prefabricated offshore and brought to site for installation in just two days, which in itself will reduce the carbon footprint of delivery and installation by over 90%.

In such an ecologically sensitive site the client required the design to blend into the landscape and he is overjoyed with the result as the design literally slips into its terrain like a geological formation

The materials used represent a major step forwards in green architecture; recycled steel, magnesium oxide wall and floor linings (which have a negative carbon footprint) and aerated hemp insulation. Eco products will also be used for all finishes.

The serviced areas consist of preassembled pods, so they are quality controlled and easily connected on site, utilising a simple 'plug and play' services connection system. There are service zones for data and air handling in the walls and ceilings, together with an AV system with room-by-room controls.

As the fabrication process is in one plant, close to workers' residences, labour transport at the factory fabrication stage is minimised and materials movement is in bulk to the one location, instead of being dispersed to different sites, again reducing transport fuel and costs. As a result, the final build costs are expected to be approximately two thirds that of traditional construction methods....

As per the Passivhaus regime, a central ventilation unit ensures the whole house is supplied with fresh and filtered air, whatever the weather. By heating incoming air from the heat of the outgoing air, combined with the airtight, well-insulated construction, heating requirements will be very small

The houses will make minimal impact on the environment; resting on removable screw piles at the edge of the lake. If in twenty years time the client wants to move them, they can be disassembled and moved elsewhere- allowing the site to revert speedily to nature! You would not know they had ever been there.

Other projects underway with MODULUS SOLUTIONS include social housing in Vietnam, school buildings in Cambodia, and affordable apartment blocks in Salford.

 

More detailed design notes;

The concept is a sphere- the geometry with the least exposed surface area to reduce heat loss. It is part buried in the terrain rather like a pea in a pod, thus slipping into its terrain like a geological formation. The floor plans are circular with a domes ceiling on the top floor and the south facing highly glazed portion will face the views or waterside. Light pipes allow daylight through the rear of the building and a top roof light allows daylight right through to the ground floor via voids in the floors and it provides natural ventilation in winter as well as a space for a pneumatic lift if required. A carport is incorporated into the mound and a boat shed which opens onto the lake. A shading sail opens and tracks the solar path also shading the windows when requires and photovoltaic cells are embedded into the fabric to supplement electricity use.

As a repeated unit a collection of Passiv PODS along the waterfront creates a green undulating profile like a pea pod