Housing development in the Arctic

Thibaut Devulder

We have just completed the feasibility study of our first project above the Arctic Circle, in Harstad, Northern Norway!

Massing concept for the first prototype houses (6 living units) of our proposed modular construction system for the housing development.

Massing concept for the first prototype houses (6 living units) of our proposed modular construction system for the housing development.

Working in collaboration with a building company, we were tasked by a local land owner and developer to prepare a design strategy for a large housing development on 35,000 m2 of newly zoned area overlooking Vågsfjorden, a fjord just north of the beautiful Lofoten archipelago.

The site had been earmarked for fairly dense housing development by Harstad city council and our client wanted to meet this vision while creating a visually harmonious housing community that integrated well with the natural beauty of the site. Pre-fabricated solutions was also a preferred to keep the project cost-effective and limit site constructions times in difficult climatic conditions.

Following a detailed analysis of the site configurations, we developed a custom modular construction system for the houses, tailored specifically to the needs of the project. Our solution took the form of two prefabricated core modules that could be combined in a wide variety of configurations to adapt to the topography, access orientation and size of each plot to maximise the use of the site. In addition, we created a number of variations based on these two modules to combine dwellings — catering for the local housing market demand as well as meeting the development density that the local authorities were calling for.

Using this modular approach, we initially designed 18 different configurations, complete with interior layouts, parking options and external spaces — including single-family houses (with and without rental units), two-family houses, terrace houses and small apartment blocks — that would allow more than 80 living units (9,000 m2 ) to be developed on the site.

We are now starting the detailed design for this modular system, ahead of the construction of four prototypes (for a total of 12 dwellings) on site next year, as well as visualisations and customisation options for marketing the project .

Portfolio project
Squint: a micro-exhibition module

Thibaut Devulder

Mining some of our old files recently, we dug up this little gem from 2006: a mobile exhibition module we called Squint. It's an installation we originally designed for a competition in Calgary, for the temporary transformation of an urban space situated under a railway bridge.

Squint in the streets of Calgary (from our competition entry in 2006)

Excited by the idea of the self-building something we would then send to the other side of the world, we took the approach of a foldable crate system that could be deployed in an unlimited number of configurations, playfully modulating the openness — or enclosure — of the micro exhibition space it hosted.

Set on its site and then manipulated by the public, the articulated and perforated little structure offered glimpses of its content to passers-by, "leaking" some of its content to the surrounding urban space.

In another context: Nottingham's Exchange Arcade...

And of course, for easy transportation, the whole thing can be neatly folded into a tiny, self-contained crate containing both the panels and the exhibition materials, ready for shipping!

This was a fun little project and maybe something to prototype again?
Interested? Get in touch with us!