“House of Families” is a project for the Greenland Self Government and Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq to provide housing for disadvantaged young women with children in Nuuk, Greenland. The architects, Fantastic Norway, who designed the building are part of a larger group led by Dahl & Uhre architects and TNT Nuuk architects and including MDH arkitekter, 42 architects + Regional associates, M: ARC and Arkitekti Helena Lennert in the development of Nuuk.
For more on this project read on after the break.
The building has been rendered inviting and protective by the architects to create a safe and nurturing environment for the young women and their children. The house is broken into smaller building volumes to create the conceptual framework of an assembly of many small families that coalesce to create the larger structure.
This social network, established to create an environment of learning and development for both the mothers and their children, is a step up for many of the families. It is an environment where the families can learn to live on their own, fend for themselves, and eventually live an independent life. The conceptual backbone of the programmatic functions of the whole assembly is a range of social zones and meeting places where various functions come together and various encounters can take place. The common functions within the building: the kitchens, the playgrounds, the sitting rooms all establish social relationships to reintroduce the residents back into society.
The building creates a literal shelter from the rough climatic conditions of the region. A heavy building mass is dense and closed to the north. Outdoor spaces are oriented to the south, but protected from heavy wind and rain in the southwest. The building mass breaks up and allows light to enter the front of the building where vegetation can flourish. The building also applies environmental technologies to sustain the life inside: an external heating system, passive solar technology, solar panels and water heating all contribute to a technological management system that regulates and controls energy consumption.
Architects: Fantastic Norway Location: Nuuk, Greenland Project Team: Anette c.Flygansvær, Håkon Matre Aasarød, Erlend Blakstad Haffner, Ingeborg c.Lindheim og Simon Pranter. Strategic Plan: Dahl&Uhre arkitekter, TNT Nuuk arkitekter, MDH arkitekter, Fantastic Norway, 42 architects + Regional associates , M:ARC+ Arkitekti+Helena Lennert.
