Hjortshøj eco-village

More pictures from the project

Address: Hjortshøj Møllevej, DK-8530 Hjortshøj
Client: Ringgården Housing Association
Architect: Arkitema
Landscape: Arkitema
Engineers: PlanEnergi and Carl Bro a/s
Building contractor: Skanska Denmark A/S
Size: 26 ecological buildings – total 2,095 m², including a 165 m² common building
Construction: 2001-02

Words like community, self-management, architectural sustainability, energy saving and environmental friendliness are key terms for this ecological housing cluster, which lies on the borderline between the open country and the village of Hjortshøj, approximately 14 km north-east of Aarhus city centre.
This low-dense housing complex is a part of a newly-formed ecological village, with a plan formulated in consultation with the residents. The site, which slopes slightly to the southeast, offers a view across green fields to a thin strip of sea in the distance.
The four wings of this complex of single and double-storied buildings surround a green recreational area, the site of the community's common building, with room for 70 residents. The common building also houses an environmentally-friendly laundry and has a roof entirely covered with solar panels.
The houses are oriented so that the living-rooms, with their large windows, face south or south-east to utilise passive solar heat. In the summer months, the grey-blue houses are also supplied with hot water heated by solar panels mounted on the roof of the common building.
Each apartment is equipped with one or more solar window walls and a solar chimney, which supply natural, pre-heated ventilation.
The complex is insulated with flax, as it was a high priority for the coming residents to avoid traditional mineral forms of insulation. The ecological features also include the solid wood constructions and external larch panelling.