Mari Taylor
Portfolio
Retrofit Project
Pasilan Konepaja Power Station
Year: 2020
Duration and Role: 4 months group project
Typology: retrofit to community centre
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Site area: 18,000m²
Total build area: 850m²
Built in 1901, Pasilan Konepaja is one of the oldest Finnish Railway stations in Helsinki. Our project aimed at the retrofit of the 850m2 Power Station to the buildings on site.
The brief was developed to reflect the building’s historic importance in a culturally significant location whilst addressing the environmental challenges of the harsh climate in Helsinki.
Airtightness measures, reduction in thermal bridging, ventilation strategies and use of renewable energy sources were factors that added to the complexity of the project. The structural system involved a ‘building within a building’ approach so as to retain the integrity of the exterior historic building fabric. The wall and roof construction details were optimized to significantly reduce the energy use intensity of the building.
Considering the relationship between the few daylight hours and depression rates in Finland, our objective was also to improve light quality within the building to strengthen the mental health of its occupants.
Project Overview
Existing Building Analysis
Prevailing wind from the south west direction
Toxic chemicals in the roof construction
Annual energy consumption: 722kwh/m2.yr
Angle of incidence low in winter / high in summer
Low radiation in the winter
Pre-cast concrete slab creates extremely lo indoor illuminance (0-80 lux annually)
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Inefficient ventilation
Frequent infiltration at openings
Thermal bridging
Load-bearing external walls double brick
Pile foundations stone pilasters for structural integrity
Building within a building
NEW ROOF
EXISTING STEEL TRUSS AND
NEW BEAMS
(cut at each end to avoid thermal bridging and supported via recyled steel I beams which sit inside and outside to the internal walls)
NEW INTERNAL WALL AND INSULATION
(400mm taller than existing to accommodate new roof thickness and avoid thermal bridging)
EXISTING BUILDING EXTERNAL WALLS
NEW EXTENSION WITH 60% GLAZING
(connects to new roof and walls)
Visuals
Renewable Electricity Systems
VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINE
SOLAR PANELS AND PHOTOVOLTAIC GLASS
Compensates for more that 40% of energy use
RAINWATER COLLECTION AND HARVESTING
stored in an underground tank and distributed around the konepaja paslian site
UNDERFLOOR HEATING SYSTEM
connected to the ground and mezzanine levels
CONNECTED TO THE OPEN PLAN POWER STATION SYSTEMS ROOM
30% virgin aggregate replaced with recycled concrete aggregate for the piles, making RAC suitable for structural use
GEOTHERMAL PILES
high efficiency ground source heat pump
PREVAILING WIND DIRECTION
from south
VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINE
40-60% efficiency
SKYLIGHTS
to improve illuminance levels
HVAC INLET DUCT
pre-heated incoming air
PHOTOVOLTAIC PANELS
compensates for more than 40% of energy use
VAWT SUPPORT
steel
HVAC EXHAUST DUCT
heat recovery from stale air
in winter, thermal energy from the exhaust air is tranferred to the incoming air, thus pre-heating it. this process is carried out by means of the heat recovery pipes and assisted by Intelligent Passive Stack
NILON FILAMENTS
to control drought
METAL RUNGS
for access and maintenance
HEAT RECOVERY PIPES
ACCESS DOOR
entry to chimney
Building Fabric
Energy & Carbon Calculations
BEFORE RETROFIT
designbuilder outputs
Fuel consumption: 343.2Wh/m²/yr
COâ‚‚ footprint: 100.4065kg/m²x10³/yr
AFTER IMPROVEMENT OF BUILDING FABRIC
designbuilder outputs
Fuel consumption: 158.95kWh/m²/yr
(54% reduction)
COâ‚‚ footprint: 41.19kgCOâ‚‚/m²x10³/yr
(58.3% reduction)
CARBON OFFSETTING
addition of renewables: -28.318kgCOâ‚‚/m²x10³/yr
FINAL CARBON ESTIMATION OF THE BUILDING FOOTPRINT AFTER RETROFIT: 12.872 kgCOâ‚‚/m²x10³/yr
(87.18% reduction)
LIFE-CYCLE EMBODIED CARBON
Extracting quantities from the REVIT model, total life-cycle embodied carbon calculations were carried out using the FCBS Carbon Tool.
The output indicated a total embodied carbon of 477 kgCOâ‚‚e/m² which falls within the RIBA 2030 benchmark.
60 year carbon impact
