WOODSCRAPER
WOODSCRAPER, Partner und Partner Architekten
Design: Jörg Finkbeiner, Klaus Günter, Jeroen Meissner
WOODSCRAPER is a resource-positive multi-storey building based on the principle of the circular economy. The modular elements consist primarily of renewable raw materials such as wood and straw. This pioneering project consolidates the currently attainable solutions for ecological and circular building in Germany. The project demonstrates that architecture and design can provide answers to resource scarcity, climate change and population growth issues in the Northern European region.
Award winner 2019 in the category »Konzept«»Here, architecture is addressing the challenges of its time! The WOODSCRAPER prototype proves that high-rise buildings made of renewable raw materials such as wood and straw are not only feasible but can even generate more resources over their lifetime than they require for construction and repair. The outcome is high-quality design that can be dismantled with all materials unmixed.«
Dr. Claudia Perren
Three questions for the project leader
Can you remember the moment when you first had the idea for WOODSCRAPER?
It was less of a moment than the result of the work that we do every day. We had a realisation that we could apply new thinking while developing functional responses to current, ecological challenges. Demonstrating this new thinking in the form of a skyscraper, which is a relatively difficult type of building, was an incentive for us. Out of this emerged the principle of reversing the negative effects of construction in order to create positive effects. WOODSCRAPER gives visibility to this approach, which is also evidenced by its practical suitability.
What was your personal highlight in the development process for WOODSCRAPER? Was there a low point?
There were numerous low points and setbacks. We are breaking new ground with this project at all levels of the construction sector. The conviction – which is held by everyone involved in the project – of a necessary and possibly fundamental ecological change in the construction sector has carried the project through all its difficult phases. The positive results of the climate impact assessments and the realistic possibility of being able to use renewable building materials (vorher: to reuse future-oriented building materials) have given the project an additional boost.
Where do you see yourself and your project in the next five years?
The pilot project will then be up and running as a prototype, including a comprehensive monitoring of the intended positive environmental impact. With this realistic contribution, we hope to inspire the construction industry as well as the general public to grapple with the now urgently needed ecological transformation. If you could permit us to dream a little, in the next five years CO2 emissions over the entire life cycle will become the defining ecological target, and circular building with predominantly renewable raw materials will be the new standard in the construction sector.
