Sunde boliger, Holstebro
Rethinking Home Comfort and Climate
Healthy Homes is an innovative, experimental construction project. It aims to bridge the gap between research and practice, exploring how building materials, methods, and technology can contribute to improved indoor climates.
The project is based on the hypothesis that the recent focus on energy efficiency and environmental performance may have negatively affected residents’ health and comfort.
The goal is to demonstrate that attention to indoor climate can be prioritized without compromising on energy efficiency or environmental standards — and without adding significant cost. The homes have been built within a standard construction budget.
Location
Holstebro, Denmark
Area
161-181 m2 per house
Typology
Residential
Collaborators
Pluskontoret Arkitekter
Artelia
Professor Torben Sigsgaard
Year
2015-2017
Status
Completed
Client
Realdania By & Byg
Services
Architectural consulting
At the heart of the project are three family homes — courtyard houses — located in a scenic residential neighborhood in Holstebro, Denmark.
The three houses, named NO-tech, NOW-tech, and YES-tech, together form both an experiment and a demonstration project. They differ in layout, construction methods, material choices, and technology use. Together, they test whether it’s possible to build and live in a way that supports a healthy indoor environment — all within a typical building budget.
When the Healthy Homes project in Holstebro was planned and designed, the “Indoor Climate Wheel” was used to identify the key indoor climate challenges.
The wheel is an effective tool developed to provide an overview of the many elements that constitute an indoor climate: How do these elements affect us, and how can a building influence them?
The wheel is divided into two halves — one focusing on physical health, the other on perceived comfort.
The project is part of Realdania’s initiative “A Good Indoor Climate”, and it is also included in Realdania By & Byg’s ongoing work with experimental new construction.