attika's energy plant house produces enough electricity to charge your car

combining sustainable technologies with thoughtful design, dutch practice attika architekten has realized the ‘energy plant house’ in zutphen, the netherlands. as was the ambition of the client – and as the name suggests – the project has been conceived to produce enough energy to sustain not only the building itself, but also provide surplus electricity to charge the owner’s car. 

all images © kees hummel fotografie

to meet the clients’ ambitious goal, attika designed the house to incorporate an 8 kW heat pump with a closed source at a depth of 180 meters, a heat exchanger in the ventilation system, and 32 solar panels with an installed capacity of 9.6 kW. in addition to these sustainable technologies that power the home with renewable energy, the building is also thoroughly insulated to prevent heat escaping through the structure. a green roof has also been implemented, which will provide additional warmth in cold winter months and help to keep the place cool during the summer. 

in addition to the details and specification of the building, the high sustainability aspirations have also informed the spatial organization of the energy plant house. the interior maximises natural light through clever placement of windows and skylights. in the double-height living room, high windows facing east and west provide daylight all day and skylights provide light in the darkest spots. 

the architecture is expressed as volumes stacked on top of one another, which are articulated by the respective use of timber and brick. the weathered wooden façades are made from 60 year old re-used azobé campshedding. the varying widths of the cladding and the beautiful patina gives the houses a touchable yet tough character. the lower part of the elevations is formed from sand-lime brick structure and the terraces of re-used stelcon plates, which make the house not only sustainable, but also largely circular.

project info:

project name: energy plant house

location: zutphen, the netherlands

architect: attika architekten

contractor: aannemersbedrijf peters

installations: kimenai installatiebeheer BV

photography: kees hummel fotografie

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom