HyperFractal Modular Architecture

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268082

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Submitted

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NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS RISING STARS : concepts or ideas submitted by young talents (aged 30 or less)

Project title

HyperFractal Modular Architecture

Full concept/idea title

Description

We provide a well-thought-through terraced housing design method using open-source wooden building units, making the process from planning to living in your house much faster. Our configurator and standardised system makes your dream house easily customisable and gives exact cost calculations for the developer, without any compromise in quality. It allows for efficient construction with a sustainable footprint, during assembly and possible future disassembly for reuse of the housing modules

Where is your concept/idea being developed or intended to be implemented in the EU?

Please provide a summary of your concept/ idea

Three-quarters of the total production time is taken up by the design process. This is a major hindrance in the real estate production cycle. A recent innovation has been the use of pre-designed modules that are constructed from modular building units assembled in a factory. The pre-built units are then assembled on the site. This helps to significantly reduce the design time.  The 369 Pattern Buildings system provides architects with tools to design various functional layouts and spatial aesthetics while having the overall structure and technical joints already standardised and resolved. With the use of pre-designed modules, it becomes possible to accurately and rapidly pre-calculate the bill of materials, estimate various cost aspects, the environmental footprint, and other quantitative data necessary for the production and construction of the building. While the majority of the 369 Pattern Buildings system uses pre-designed modules, they can also be easily combined with custom parts such as the basement, entrances, atriums, and more, allowing for maximum flexibility and customisation without a compromise in efficiency or the speed of information. Using Creatomus, the online 3D visual configurator for the 369 Pattern Buildings system, we can easily try out different spatial scenarios and assess their suitability from a functional, financial and aesthetical perspective. The customers can also play with their options and see the corresponding changes along with all the cost calculations being done in real time, allowing them to feel comfortable in making the most informed decision.  3D configurator link: https://configurator.creatomus.com/project/hyperfractalridamaja

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of sustainability and how these would be met

Using the 369 Pattern Buildings system for our designs, we are able to optimise the whole process of construction and improve sustainability in many ways. The entire nature of having a standardised underlying subsystem allows for the most in-depth planning and preparation, resulting in highly optimised operations and workflows. The customers experience this in the form of lower cost, faster production time, and the lowest environmental footprint. In terms of material use, wood used for the modular units allows construction to be more sustainable and have a lower environmental impact than the production and use of concrete or other materials would in comparison. Using pre-designed units, material use and structure design is optimised for the most effective and efficient design. Many parts of the construction units are also made from recycled wood. The pre-built nature of the modular units means entire sections of the building can be constructed in the factory with the most efficient workflow. Any leftover pieces and packaging materials are collected and reused, lowering the trash output of the construction. Minimal heavy tools are needed to be transported to the construction site as well. In terms of transport and logistics, this means the exact amount of products to be transported to the construction site can be better planned with more foresight and the logistics can be even more optimised for lowest cost and minimal pollution. The modular nature of the units means that when the purpose of the building ends, or an upgrade or renovation is desired, or a total disassembly is needed, the action can be taken easily and more efficiently. Reuse is superior to recycling and the ease in disassembly of the modules allows them to be reused and repurposed. This means demolition footprint and costs are erased and the building units that are once produced can have the longest lifespan of usage to make the most use out of the effort and resources consumed for their product.

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience beyond functionality and how these would be met

A key focus in our mission has been in providing a high-quality customer experience and this is something that starts right from first interaction with our system by the customer; when they are configuring their house options in Creatomus, the online 3D visual configurator. The speed of information of the costs and quantitative properties of the house, combined with the ability to view the final result immediately in a perfect visual render of the final product gives the customer a great sense of ease and confidence in the product. This is a critical aspect of building trust with the customer and having a high customer satisfaction factor. Additionally, by having the modules pre-built in the factory, we can ensure the best workmanship with unhindered use of all the proper tools. This will enable us to maintain a high standard of work, with no corners cut in the details. The customer will notice the level of work done when they start living in the house and it will bring a sense of ease that they did in fact invest in quality workmanship. Our wide range of options provides flexibility in expressing your personal style, from a minimalist approach to a lavish one. The wooden columns of the modular units are cleverly disguised as interior design elements to mask the modular nature and make it look like a regular-style home. The layout was designed for maximum natural light to illuminate the home and with large open spaces for family areas. This allows the house to feel open and inviting, putting the mind at ease at a subconscious level. The open spaces also allow the house to blend in the background and give a better sense of connection for the family when they are together and allows them and their pleasant interactions to become the focus of attention, rather than the building they are in. The rooms are designed with quality space management for a cosy private space, and the ceiling height is set to 2.85m to give a tall open sense of space as well.  

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of inclusion and how these would be been met

Everyone deserves a high quality of life and the ever-growing housing costs and shortage of houses should not be a permanent barrier for people getting access to high-quality housing. Our modular construction with pre-planned designs and pre-built constructions allows us to optimise the process of construction and the benefits of these are passed on to our customers. The standardised designs and optimised workflow allows for cost savings across the supply chain. Our pipeline from planning to construction allows us to create high-quality and customisable houses with extremely low lead times for housing construction, which additionally also leads to reduced costs with fewer work hours required to complete the work. With our designs and the 369 Pattern Buildings modular system, we can address the housing shortage by meeting the high demand of housing faster and provide housing at lower costs than industry competitors for the same comparable quality of housing.  We have identified several housing locations across Europe and we believe that after our current project in Estonia, we can work internationally and bring the same benefits across Europe. The fact that our modular system is also open source will allow us to work with more manufacturers openly and allow more partners to help develop the modular system further to include more region-specific designs. This is a long-term mission for us, to provide high-quality and affordable housing across Europe with design and sustainability in mind.  

Please explain the innovative character of your concept/ idea

Using the 369 Pattern Buildings modules allows us to model our designs to the smallest detail. By knowing exactly what materials are used for the modules and what is needed at site we can calculate the estimated price of production and construction. At the same time, this knowledge gives us the opportunity to get the estimated CO2 footprint of our design. With Creatomus as our product visualiser we are able to calculate these parameters and offer the information straight to the client with live updates, while the client is choosing the layout design. By doing this we offer the client to see how their decisions change the price of their building and at the same time what effect they have towards the environmental footprint.  

Please detail the plans you have for the further development, promotion and/or implementation of your concept/idea, with a particular attention to the initiatives to be taken before May 2022

Moving forward, we have a lot planned to keep us directed forward and moving steadily on. We will keep improving our designs and optimising them further. We will also be creating new designs and options for customers and adding them to Creatomus for more variety for customers. In the future, we also intend on adding more custom-made parts to the configurator that are not predefined by 369 Pattern Buildings using their modular system. This will allow us to have a variety of options for garages, basements, atriums, and more that customers can add to their house. We are currently and in future will continue to connect with wooden modular unit factories to keep getting industry feedback to keep verifying our design work. We will also continue to do the same with real estate developers to make sure our designs are in line with market preferences and needs, to further verify our market research. We will also work closely with local facade manufacturers to encourage local cooperation supporting local businesses as much as possible. As we move towards new European regions in the future, this practice of local sourcing will follow for more efficient development. We are also working very closely with the Estonian Academy of Arts for a cooperation that includes promotion and mentorship for us, and possibly using our work for helping design new architecture education for modular housing. We are also working with 369 Pattern Buildings and Creatomus with our close symbiotic partnership also allowing them to keep improving their product. As per our project timeline, we intend to finish the 1st set of full designs by July 2021 and do a mid-review with manufacturers and developers. September 2021, we do a final review. By November, we start offering the designs to developers for customer sales, and we work with the manufacturers to solve details. March 2022, we are hoping to have found sufficient customers to start the development of the 1st project and bring our work to reality

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that the proposed concept/idea has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Rising Stars Awards more than once in the same category.