Brick House

Nyborg, Denmark

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Brick House

Nyborg, Denmark

Firm

Leth and Gori

Type

Residential › Private House

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2013

SIZE

1000 sqft - 3000 sqft

BUDGET

$100K - 500K

Photos

STAMERS KONTOR (4)

Leth and Gori’s Brick House is a project that creates innovation by reinventing history. By revisiting materials and solutions from historic houses which have proven to be robust and have a long life span, a new type of contemporary sustainable house is created.

Brick House is part of a development project titled Mini-CO2 houses, initiated by the philanthropic foundation Realdania. The goal of Realdania’s project is to develop affordable sustainable houses with a low CO2 footprint. A total of six houses have been built on a site in Nyborg, Denmark. Each house features a different approach to how CO2 reduction can be achieved, for example, by focusing on materials and building techniques, or by focusing on aiding the inhabitants to reduce CO2.

Brick House has two main objectives; to create a house which is maintenance-free for 50 years; and to create a house with a lifespan of a minimum of 150 years.

Brick House is based on a vision of a house that is alive and can breathe. This vision is realized by reducing the wall construction of the house to one material — clay. By using clay blocks and bricks, a solid, homogeneous, and simple outer wall is created. This outer wall is diffusion-open, thus allowing the building to breathe like the traditional solid brick houses that have proven to last. In addition, the reduction to one wall material reduces the number of joints between different materials and the potential building mistakes that these joints traditionally cause. The solid brick walls result in a robust and healthy house that is low maintenance with a long lifespan and good indoor climate.

Brick House rediscovers knowledge and techniques from traditional brick houses in Denmark. The houses from the era of the National Association for Better Building Traditions [Bedre Byggeskik] from the beginning of the 20th century have served as examples. As the name suggests, these houses have a strong focus on creating buildings that are built well with good technical solutions, craftsmanship, and materials. Brick House uses the same principles to build a contemporary home with a long lifespan, thus adapting the best of historic buildings but at the same time integrating new knowledge and techniques. The result is a house that radiates qualities of architecture and craftsmanship.