ENERGY
Arkitema Sets the
Benchmark in Energy
Efficient Design with
the Samsø Academy
LIVING UP TO GREEN ISLAND
ention Samsø to most The result is a building which and knowledge they needed and tourists
M
people in the UK and provides a real hub and focus for visitors could find out more about the island and
you’ll get some blank and islanders alike. But it is also one the thinking behind the experiment. In
stares. Some will that is true to its purpose – and the other words, a multi-purpose building that
recognise it as an island principles behind the project, providing a could act as a cross between a visitor
off Denmark – one or two may have centre of excellence in energy efficiency centre and a college. Plus, of course, its
heard of its summer music festival or that for anyone across the globe who wants to eco-credentials had to be impeccable.
it offers idyllic beaches and good sailing find out more. Thomas Carstons, Arkitema COO and
and is a mecca for strawberry pickers. project director on the Samsø work, takes
However, say “Samsø” to anyone in SELF SUFFICIENT up the story: “Although Denmark appears
the know about environmental matters Samsø is a small (7km by 30km) to be ahead of the UK when it comes to
and immediately they’ll tell you it’s not so island almost two hours by ferry off the sustainable design and construction,
much an island, more a landmark east coast of Jylland, Denmark with there’s still a lot of talk without the action
experiment in sustainability and energy around 4,000 inhabitants. In the late to back it up.
self-sufficiency. 1990s it was chosen as the location of “However, Arkitema,
Imagine then being given the task of a one-off environmental experiment. At has a track record of
designing one of the key buildings on the the time it had no conventional energy environmentally
island – and not just any building but the resources of its own – but it would be sophisticated projects. In
Samsø Energy Academy designed to expected to convert totally to renewable fact, we believe that these
showcase the island’s much-heralded energy within the decade. It began the ideas should be integral to
renewable energy project. The brief was task in 1998 – and now all its energy every building – rather
to create a resource centre for everyone comes from wind power and 75% of its than an added extra and
interested in the project and renewable heat comes from solar power and we’ve been doing our best
energy on a broader scale, from biomass energy from locally-grown to keep to these ideas ever
politicians and scientists to tourists and straw and wood pellets burnt in since the company was
school children. central furnaces. founded in the late 1960s.
It was a real high-profile challenge. But, with this success comes “Consequently we
The architects needed to have the right demands. Namely, an influx of over were one of the first firms
knowledge and experience for the job; it 2,000 tourists, scholars, journalists, to come to mind when the
couldn’t be entrusted to a practice paying politicians and officials every year – all idea of the Energy
only lip service to green policies. wanting to know more about Samsø’s Academy was first
Thankfully the firm chosen – Arkitema – experiences or to study and further the discussed.”
was more than qualified to fulfil the role, cause of energy-efficiency themselves. However, Carstons
having worked on ground-breaking The answer was a centre where doesn’t deny that the
eco-homes and other sustainable projects researchers and scientists could work, project tested their
in the past. other professionals could get the advice creativity. “The building
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SUSTAINABLE FM | APRIL 2008
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