matteo thun designs fire house with carbon neutral footprint

matteo thun designs ‘fire house’ with carbon neutral footprint
photo © walter wehner
all images courtesy of matteo thun and b & o gruppe

an 8m cube ‘fire house’ designed by italian architect matteo thun for the german company ecolohe is constructed from local materials by resident workers, contributing to the zero km aspect of the eco-friendly heating plant. the facades are covered in shingles made of larch wood, a tree which grows prolifically in the area. the form, particularly the roof, loosely draws on the san vito church in italy’s alto adige region. the building is carbon neutral and zero waste in its existence as a bio-mass burning water heating plant. it houses a 500 -kW boiler fueled by wood chips. a filter on the exhaust vent reduces particulate pollution from their burning. the project is part of a masterplan to transform a 175-acre former american military base in bad aibling, germany into a neighborhood for over 700 families. ‘fire house’ would heat the district with assistance from an additional gas boiler in the winter, and solar thermal plant in summer. several universities are monitoring the scheme in their study of biomass heat and power system management and optimization.

entry door shows the scale of this 8m cube
photo © walter wehner

(left) detail of larch shingle siding
(right): the metal chimney and front facade contrast against wooden cladding
photos © walter wehner
 

roof detail
photo © walter wehner
 

the heating plant was built with local labor and construction materials
photo © walter wehner

(left): san vito in the italian region of alto adige. photo courtesy b&o gruppe
(right): completed biomasseheizhaus in bad aibling. photo © walter wehner

project info:

architect: matteo thun
project team: b & o saatinvest heizhaus (manufacturer); hdg bavaria (woodchip boiler); ecolohe (flokets chips producer); schrader (particulate filter)
client: b & o housing, bad aibling
location: bad aiblingen, district mietrachingen, access via ebersbergerstraße
completion: 2011
credit: b & o housing, bad aibling