Gellerupparken Block B4
Almost 2,000 public housing units are to be renovated in Gellerupparken, which was previously synonymous with problems in Danish non-profit housing construction. Block B4 is the first pilot project and the starting point for the renovation of Gellerup's many apartment blocks.
Block B4 is preserved unlike several other blocks in the area. And demolition is, from a climate perspective, a bad business when something new is built instead. This is shown by Tegnestuen Vandkunsten's life cycle analysis (LCA), which the architectural firm has made for demolished and renovated apartment blocks, respectively, to help calculate the consequences - before deciding to demolish. The analysis shows that the demolition of apartment blocks and subsequent new construction is, in the worst case, using today's common building materials, concrete and bricks, approximately 300% more climate-damaging than with a renovation.
"One would have to build twice as climate-friendly as we can today if the CO2 accounts were to go up. Not even if the new homes were built in straw, the climate accounts would go up by building new ones," Søren Nielsen, architect and partner, Vandkunsten.
With its symbolic new city gate, the apartment building is a landmark in the transformation that will merge the city of Aarhus with the district Gellerup. Block B4 has been energy renovated to new standards with the addition of new technical installations, insulation and new energy-efficient facade sections. In addition, new terraced houses have been created on the ground floor and view homes on the roof, which open up for a wider composition of residents.
