What is "Living Places”?

Living Places is an experimental project that aims to prove that we do not have to wait for the advancement/improvement of the technology currently used by the building industry to solve the global climate crisis and health problems with the principle of "Tomorrow is Too Late" and that the necessary change is possible with the existing conditions. VELUX believes that it is time for industry professionals to come together and think about how buildings can help the climate crisis through sustainable solutions and therefore, in collaboration with MOE Engineers and EFFEKT Architects, VELUX is creating an experimental living environment: Living Places.

Living Places, the first prototypes of which were realized in Denmark and can be considered as an open exhibition space, consists of seven prototypes (five open pavilions and two completed houses) that include healthy and low-carbon housing proposals. The prototypes, built following the five basic principles of Living Places, are a source of inspiration for professionals in the building industry, while also allowing the local community and people living in the neighborhood to visit and experience the homes.

The project aims to demonstrate that it is possible, at an affordable and scalable level, to achieve three times lower carbon emissions and three times better indoor climate than other detached houses in its location.

But exactly how?

Living Places is based on five key principles (health, shared spaces, simplicity, adaptability, and scalability) that can be applied to any community or city. In Living Places, every material, design, and technique is carefully reconsidered to reduce environmental impact and improve human health.

1. Health

Especially after the pandemic, we spend most of our time indoors with our new daily routines. However, the space we are in directly affects both our physical and mental health.

Living Places focuses not only on how we create a better living environment for the planet but also on finding solutions for a future that improves living conditions for people, using prototypes to show that it is possible to build homes that make people less sick - and even improve human health. In Denmark, where Living Places is based, the average family home is studied in detail, and prototypes with 70% lower carbon emissions than the average Danish home are created by rethinking the daylight entering the house, the thermal environment of the spaces, the air quality, the acoustics and the connection with the outdoors.

2. Shared Common Spaces

As a result of globalization on the one hand and the impact of the pandemic on the other, people's connection with their communities is weakening and even almost breaking down.

As a solution to this, Living Places builds shareable communal spaces just outside the dwellings for people to gather and do things together. This allows people to actively meet and communicate with their communities, while also having an environmental impact due to a significant reduction in land use.

3. Simplicity

With the principle of simplicity, Living Places focuses specifically on the complicated processes of constructing a building. Prefabricated and modular building elements, remove this complexity and simplify the process by rethinking how the different components of a building come together in a simpler way. Also, the technique allows the Living Places prototypes to be reassembled as easily as they are built, allowing the structures to be flexible.

According to Living Places, an important part of the concept used in the simplicity principle is the separation of the technical systems and the building system. Traditional methods, where cables and pipes run through the walls, are expensive, inefficient, and difficult to maintain and repair. By separating the building and the technical systems, they ensure that systems such as ventilation, solar energy, water, and energy-saving devices can be easily repaired and replaced.

Moreover, in Living Places prototypes, each element is reconsidered with sustainability and cost in mind, and systems are created that reduce labor and waste production.

4. Adaptability

A person's expectations of their home naturally change over time. As a solution to this, we often change our homes as our needs change (for example, as the number of people living in them increases). Living Places, however, proposes "flexible" solutions that can adapt to different needs at different periods. This is achieved through the modularity of the prototypes and the use of prefabricated elements. For example, the interior plan of the house can change according to different periods and adapt to the changing needs of the people living in it.

However, even if Living Places is currently only located in Denmark, solutions are also being put forward that show how these prototypes can be adapted from rural to urban environments.

5. Scalability

Today, the idea of owning a home in Turkey is almost unattainable in terms of cost. In particular, it is much more costly and difficult to buy more sustainable buildings. At this point, Living Places' goal is to make homes that are affordable and financially accessible for the average family.

After examining the average Danish family home and finding that only 37% of it is actively used, Living Places rethinks the occupied dwelling space to make it smaller but more efficient, thus designing affordable homes that are more cost-effective to build, maintain, and operate. In addition, by creating shared spaces outside the dwelling, Living Places reduces the costs that would normally be individually incurred inside the house by dividing them among all users.

With the climate crisis, economic crisis, and pandemics all threatening, the need for healthy and sustainable buildings is growing rapidly. Steffen Maagaard, director of MOE Engineers, one of Living Places' partners, says: "We don't need to wait for technology to advance to achieve this. We have all the knowledge and technology we need right now for the building industry to create regenerative solutions." He emphasizes the importance of taking action today. You can click the link to get more detailed information about Living Places, which takes action with today's technology and inspires future projects.

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