A Full performance paper house

• Published in: Journal of facade design and engineering 2021-04, Vol.9 (1)
• Main Authors: Alexander Wolf, Bach Rebecca, Kiziltoprak Nihat, Ulrich Knaack, Martin Wilfinger
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: building with paper; construction; emergency shelter; full performance paper house; prototype
• ISSN: 2213-302X; 2213-3038
• DOI: 10.7480/jfde.2021.1.5533

According to the UNHCR, in 2019 there were 70.8 million refugees worldwide. Due to war, catastrophes, and emergency situations a great demand for temporary accommodation has arisen within the last couple of years. The main requirements for these shelters are protection for the inhabitants, easy transportability, and quick construction. In addition, in terms of resource efficiency, the recyclability of the construction materials is of great importance. Paper materials have a high potential for this, due to their strong structure, cost-effective production, and optimised recycling processes. The following paper presents a case study of a prototype for a temporary paper house that meets the static and technical requirements for a comfortable and hygienic living space by combining different paper materials. The overall objective of this research was the constructive development of building elements made of paper materials, which meet the requirements for temporary residential use over a period of at least 3 years. The main advantages of using paper materials for this purpose are easy processing, cost-effective production, and a high probability for its sustainable disposal after usage. The main challenges of the material are fire protection and moisture protection, which affect the recyclability, as well as the gluing and joining techniques. An overview of possible solutions for these disadvantages and their applicability will be demonstrated and discussed. The paper aims to emphasise that simplicity and performance do not need to be diametrically opposed. The envelope, which provides all the functions required of a modern building through its multi-layered structure, represents the performance of this project. Transportation, construction, and joining, on the other hand, were kept as simple as possible in order to make assembly possible even by unskilled workers and under very basic conditions. The paper is divided into four sections. First, the technical and regulatory requirements for temporary emergency shelters, as well as the decisive characteristics of paper materials are described and analysed. In the second part, the architectural design and the construction typology are defined. The third part focusses on the elaboration and evaluation of building elements with regard to joining technologies, statics, building physics, and production technologies. Finally, the results of the prototype and their transferability are presented and discussed.