Between 20th and 31st of March construction students from Vidzemes Augstskola (Latvia) and architecture students from Universitatea Politehnica Timișoara (Romania) developed an applied vision for circular transformation of a decommissioned building in Valmiera as part of E³UDRES² I Living Lab.

During online sessions in the first week, students learned the basics of sustainable and circular construction, principles of energy efficiency and material flows, as well as how to create a building life cycle assessment (LCA).  

The second week was all about hands-on experience on site in Valmiera, where students worked with point cloud 3D models, created a detailed material audit for the building and identified potential circular material and waste flows. This information, together with input from the potential future users of the building was used to develop a vision for the extension and renovation of the building into a Sustainable Construction Hub (launchpad for the Open Innovation Hub for Smart and Sustainable Cities and Villages) for the New Building School at Vidzemes Augstskola. The existing building is preserved as much as possible and renovated with mostly reused and recycled materials. The extensions are timber constructions which showcase the design for disassembly strategies and circular construction materials.

The exhibition was held in half of the existing building. Two full rolls of scaffolding nets were attached to walls and ceilings of two rooms to protect from dust and debris as well as to function as attachment points for the LED-light strings and exhibition drawings. The podests for the models were built from material found in the building.

THE WORKSHOP

THE EXHIBITION

Mentors:
Gunita Kuļikovska-Ķiesnere, Marija Katrīna Dambe, Florian Betat, Cristina Povian, Alexandra Keller, Bogdan Liviu Isopescu
Participants:
Kristiāns Birķis, Jolanta Artējeva, Daniels Geseltiņš, Linda Murāne, Līga Līdaka, Ralfs Muska, Almants Lelis, Jēkabs Toms Mileris, Ralfs Strujevskis, Jānis Savickis, Gustavs Kalinks, Bianca Mihaela Budis, Denisa-Roxana Bîrlan, Bianca-Laura Suciu, Vlad-Constantin Atanasiu, Robert Cristoiu, Laurențiu Palincaș, Georgiana Pașca, Timotei Hotea, Eduard Rubin Găleșanu
Photographer:
Andra Marta Photography (current state & exhibition), mentors and participants (workshop)