DynamicWall: towards adaptable and reusable partition systems
Context
A short term perspective on building construction and retrofitting may result in much higher environmental impacts and higher building costs in the long run than those initially accounted for. Contributions of the total life cycle and the end-of-life of buildings are often overlooked, while these play a crucial role on the environmental impact and the overall financial picture of building retrofitting. Furthermore, since our society is evolving faster and faster, the need to easily adapt our buildings to new socio-cultural and demographic trends becomes more and more pertinent.
Aims of research
This research project investigates the development and implementation of dynamic walls for retrofitting of residential buildings in the Brussels-Capital Region. Dynamic wall systems – as a part of a re-design for change approach – anticipate the future occurrence of alterations, upgrade or transformation processes by facilitating dismantling, reuse and recycling of materials.
Research results
An innovative DynamicWall concept was developed as a sustainable alternative for conventional wall systems used in buildings today. A wall system was designed dealing with the questions of reversible design and reuse of components, that can be easily assembled in analogy with Do It Yourself (DIY) kits like e.g IKEA products. Prototyping models were successfully tested on vertical impacts and acoustical performance under laboratory conditions in order to validate the wall system’s application in a real context.
The transition of the wall concept towards a marketable product is made possible through research collaboration with an important Brussels industrial partner specialised in flexible and environmental wall systems. Finally, through implementation in a real demonstrator project situated in the Brussels-Capital Region the applicability of the wall concept is fully explored.
With this project a tangible physical deliverable is put forward around and serve as a catalyst for future research & development and debate amongst relevant stakeholders involved in the built environment of the BCR.