Located on the border between an industrial estate and a nature reserve, the Lauterach Biomass Central Heating Plant mediates between a characteristically diverse built context and the elemental beauty of the Lauterach Moorlands.
The step-by-step process of converting biomass waste to heating is reflected in the spatial organization. The building comes to resemble a process-optimised machine, offering the most economical operational cycle from the delivery of wood chips to the removal of ash. The final building is compact and aligned directly to the access road to minimize its effect, and that of the vehicles which must deliver its biomass fuel, on the local environment.
The facade has been clad in waste fir from local sawmills, which would otherwise have been further processed and used as fuel. Their rough-sawn, bark-covered edges give the facade a coarse, seemingly random texture which expresses the biomass heating plant’s position at the boundary of nature and technology.
Team: Andreas Cukrowicz, Anton Nachbaur-Sturm, Simon Metzler, Christian Schmölz
Client: Bionahwärme Lauterach GmbH
Concept 2009, Construction 2010
