Salvaged house.
Location: Enschede, The Netherlands
Type of construction: New
Gross building area: 400 m²
Architecture and expertise: Superuse Studios | architecture office
Welpeloo’s creators made sure that the project clearly states the meaning of utility and sustainability. The designing and building of Villa Welpeloo occurred backwards. The architects started off by finding and collecting materials from local factories and warehouses and then designed a structure that best employed those resources.
The main characteristic of the house is that it was constructed from almost entirely salvaged materials. Through a process the architects called recyclicity, 60% of the exterior and nearly 90% of the interior are composed of reused and repurposed materials. To decrease the carbon footprint even more, all the materials were obtained within a nine mile radius of the construction site.
The load bearing construction is made from steel beams from a paternoster (industrial lift). A single machine provided enough steel to construct the whole frame. The main facades are built with wood from damaged cable reels, which have a standard size and are normally used for particleboard or for burning. The insulation was provided by leftover polystyrene panels from a caravan manufacturer. Old billboards were turned into cabinets and broken umbrella spokes into low-voltage lighting.
The waste materials provided inspired the development of the design. The found materials demanded new shapes and construction methods.