Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) have been selected as one of two winners in the E2 (Ecology and Economy) competition in Finland. The international competition was to design a sustainable timber construction multi-story residential unit that will be constructed at a pilot site outside of Kouvola, Finland. BIG’s design was chosen by the jury for the unique living environment it creates as well as the architects’ consideration of environment in the design process. The Arup Gmbh team’s design E2volution shared the first place award, chosen for its structural clarity as well for the speed and cost-effectiveness of construction.
The real design BIG has created is not the snaking design that will be constructed outside Kouvola, but the pre-fab timber construction system they call PUU-BO. PUU-BO is a multi-purpose modular system for use in any environment or typology. Like LEGO blocks they can be stacked and attached specifically for the site they will be built at. The designers drew influence from Le Corbusier’s DOMI-NO concrete structure system with PUU-BO, and see PUU-BO as a sort of updated re-imagination of the DOMI-NO system made to address the sustainable and resourceful demands of 21st century design.
For their pilot site outside of Kouvola, Team BIG laid out the target 15,000 m2 of residential space and then shifted the long-form structure into a winding snake-like structure fit to the contours and elements of the site as well as to integrate the required green park and parking areas. Where the structure bends to exposes units to open space the height of the building is increased and where it creates inward pockets the height is decreased. This height difference means the spaces with the best views across the adjacent Kymijoki River have the highest volume of apartments.
BIG and Arup Gmbh beat out 26 other proposals for the highly sought after prize, and the city of Kouvola give the impression both designs will be used to create a design for the pilot site. If the system is a success we might be seeing many more PUU-BO projects pop up around the world, maybe even the “woodscraper” BIG claims PUU-BO can make.
