Arkitektfirma Helen & Hard, AS

Vindmøllebakken Housing

Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen

Vindmøllebakken Housing

Helen & Hard

ARCHITECTS
Helen & Hard

AREA
4950 M²

YEAR
2019

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Sweco

PHOTOGRAPHS
Sindre Ellingsen, Jiri Havran, Stian Dirdal

MANUFACTURERS
Bergknapp, Holzbau Saurer, Teknobad

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
Multiconsult Stavanger

ACOUSTICS CONSULTANTS
Sinus/brekke & Strand Akustikk

PROJECT ARCHITECT MNAL
Ane S. Dahl

ENERGY ANALYSIS
Niras, Niras

CREATIVE DIRECTOR MNAL
Siv Helene Stangeland

CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Reinhard Kropf

ARCHITECTURAL TECHNICIAN AND TIMBER SPECIALIST
Simon Aeschimann

USER INVOLVEMENT
Gaia Trondheim, Helen & Hard

BUILDING MANAGER AND MAIN CONTRACTOR
Kruse Smith

FIRE SAFETY ADVISOR
Konsepta

TIMBER ENGINEERING
Holzbau Saurer, Herman Blumer

LOCATION
Stavanger, Norway

PROJECT MANAGER
Solon Eiendom

CATEGORY
Apartments, Coliving

Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Jiri Havran
Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Jiri Havran

Text description provided by architect.

Vindmøllebakken is a collaboration between Helen&Hard architects and Kruse Smith real estate: The whole development comprises 40 co-living units, 4 townhouses, and 10 apartments.

Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen
Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen

The project is planned using a low-rise typology with 3-5 stories and is built of prefabricated timber elements. This refers to the traditional timber housing typology of the neighbourhood.

Vindmøllebakken has become a modern housing typology that fulfills human, social, and environmental needs in a sustainable way.

Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen
Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen

The residents – who own the apartments – have been involved in the planning and development process. This pilot project in Stavanger is based on the Gaining by Sharing model.

Initiated by the architects Helen & Hard, Indigo Growth, and Gaia Trondheim, the model is a response to the standard way homes are built, which often does not respond to the current societal needs.

Today’s residents might be modern families with “my, your and our kids”, a generation of elderly who are healthy and want to live at home longer,people who live alone and suffers from loneliness, or people who simply wish to live more sustainably.

By sharing resources, whether it is time, space, or assets, the result is a more sustainable way of living: environmentally, but also socially, economically, and architecturally.

Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen
Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen

Description of the co-housing project: 40 apartments, slightly smaller than usual - but fully equipped, are organized around 500 m2 of shared space, of which everyone owns an equal part.

The shared spaces are the heart of the building – easy to reach by everyone. Some spaces are encouraging social activity, others offer space for retreat and privacy.

The entrance is through a courtyard into a generous double-height hallway with plants and herbs growing - ready for making dinner in the adjacent communal kitchen.

Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen
Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen

Here is also a dining area, workshops, guest rooms, and a lounge. It is all constructed in spruce timber with hemp insulation creating a warm and calm atmosphere.

An amphitheater marks the start of an open stairwell and galleries leading to the apartments and further up to the library and greenhouse on the rooftop.

The sequence of rooms is designed to create visual connections between spaces and people and to provide freedom to how much and when to engage in communal life.

Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen
Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Jiri Havran
Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Jiri Havran
Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Jiri Havran

The resident can choose to take the path through the common areas or the fast track from the street and they can choose to live very close to the social areas or on the other side of the courtyard.

A groundbreaking feature of the process of a traditional housing project is the involvement of the residents in the planning and development phases of the project.

Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen
Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen
Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen

Early in the process, workshops were organized that presented the concept and invited to influence the individual units and suggest activities for the common areas.

Most importantly it was a chance to get to know each other and engage creatively in informing their future common home together.

Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen
Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen

As the first residents moved in they formed 22 interest groups that are self-organizing and gathering resources to manage the use of the shared spaces and facilities and to take care of the different tasks of the communal everyday life;

there is a kitchen group, a gardening group, a car-sharing group, and even an art-curating- group.There is also a group that facilitates good social and relational processes and helps the community to learn from their challenges.

Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen
Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen
Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen
Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen
Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Jiri Havran

Being part of this community brings up very different experiences and benefits. Some enjoy that it is easy to meet and connect with neighbours and to care for each other. They experience being more engaged within their everyday lives.

Some account for better sleep and health conditions and others appreciate the aspect of sharing things and having fewer private things to take care of.

Evidence of benefits from co-housing has mostly been anecdotal, but it is drawing new attention from social scientists.

The national Cohousing Research Network in the US found that 96 percent of people interviewed who lived in cohousing reported improved quality of life; 75 percent felt their physical health was better than others their age.

Vindmøllebakken Housing
© Sindre Ellingsen


Vindmøllebakken Housing

Vindmøllebakken Housing


Vindmøllebakken Housing
Diagram
Vindmøllebakken Housing
Diagram


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Section
Vindmøllebakken Housing


Vindmøllebakken Housing
Site plan
Vindmøllebakken Housing
Site plan
Vindmøllebakken Housing
Typical apartments plan
Vindmøllebakken Housing
Apartment B Floor plan
Vindmøllebakken Housing
Sixth floor plan
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Fifth floor plan
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Fourth floor plan
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Third floor plan
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Floor plan level -3
Vindmøllebakken Housing
Second floor plan
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First floor plan
Vindmøllebakken Housing
Floor plan level -1

Arkitektfirma Helen & Hard, AS
T +47 406 40672
Arkitektfirma Helen & Hard, AS
Erfjordgata 8, 4014 Stavanger, Norway