Building Systems

Abstract: This diploma project investigates serial produced housing and the possibilities of type house construction. In spring 2020, the government report “Building and living at lower cost - proposals for better competition in housing construction” was published. It proposes a change in the building law that would allow planning permissions for serial produced multi-family houses despite the projects violating the detailed plan or area regulations. I used this report as a starting point for an analysis of affordable housing in Sweden. As a part of that analysis, I have focused the architectural research on Kombohusen sold by SABO, which has currently been reproduced on more than one-hundred sites across Sweden. Additionally, I did parallel research on the work of Walter Segal who developed a method of timber construction in the 70s that enabled cheap timber buildings to be constructed by non-professional self-builders as an alternative way of creating affordable housing.
 Both the research of the serial produced and the self-built revealed to me that their core architectural concepts lie in the detail drawing. That is why this diploma explores constructional details of a house that could potentially be mass produced. It proposes a system based on a lightweight sandwich unit made of timber. The unit forms the basis for larger elements that can be transported on site and erected rapidly.
 The design of the units evolved around a belief that one of the challenges of an architect lies in drawing and redrawing buildings that can serve society beyond the life cycle of their original shape. As such, the units, the elements, and the house should be easy to assemble, adjust and dismantle to ensure long-term maintenance and reusability.