Zollverein Essen, Germany

PHZ2

Papierhouse on the world heritage Zollverein

In 2008, the office won the international architectural competition “mobile working spaces”, which was advertised by the Zollverein Development Company mbH and the Zollverein School of Management and Design. The aim of the contest was to create temporary spaces for start-ups from the design industry. Stood by intelligent space solutions and the use of innovative materials in the foreground of attention.

The main idea of the project PH-‐Z2 based on the use of secondary raw material waste paper. Old packaging material from the supermarkets (paper type: Department store paper B19) are collected separately and pressed on the recycling under high pressure into bales. The bales of waste paper used in this case have dimensions of 1.40 m / 1.10 m / 0.80 m and a weight of about 500 kg. A total of 550 of these balls fitted with a total weight of 275 tonnes.

Here, the idea was born by chance. In an Oberhausener recycling facility, we were in the competition process aware of the material. From the beginning we were impressed by the aesthetics of the material. The unusual variegation, the different feel and countless Logo Brands, which suggest a strong familiarity were, among others decisive for the choice of material for the planning and construction of new building types. In addition, our aim was to develop a building concept based on current issues for environmental, sustainability and energy efficiency. Further intention of our concept is to give a thought-‐provoking impuls how to deal with temporary architecture in the future.

We were able to use ressources of the industry and use recycled paper. Based on the paper and packaging industry, which produce cartons for products in supermarkets, to the recycling company, where we tap into the circulation, and borrow the material for temporary architecture, furniture and three-‐dimensional advertising space and after that return it to the recycling circulation. So a recycling of recycling!

The positive characteristics of the material make it possible to offer a design system which combines the load-‐bearing and insulating properties in one. Further, the construction costs over conventional construction can be reduced by up to 40%. The development of the prototype at the Zollverein World Heritage Site, was affected due to lack of identification and reference values from the beginning, through research and experimentation. The Zollverein area volume has outside dimensions of 40 x 9 meters and a floor area of 185 square meters. An “Altpapierbar” for entertainment as well as toilets in the building are also available. Because of the innovative character, we have decided to use the building Multifunctional. Imaginable are exhibitions, press conferences, product presentations, fashion shows or, due to the excellent sound insulation properties, including concerts. The building geometry has been derived after the historic architecture model of the mastaba (predecessor of the Egyptian pyramid). The project was awarded in the run several times. Because of the predominantly positive characteristics, we applied the idea of an international patent. It is the first building that was built from waste paper bales.

Europaconcorsi Beta

PHZ2