Háteigsvegur 59

On Háteigsvegur 59, you can find a new social housing building run by Félagsbústaðir, built following various sustainability principles. Arnhildur Pálmadóttir from s.p.arkitektar/Lendager á Íslandi ehf. was the architect of the building, and the project was carried out in collaboration with the Icelandic Housing and Construction Authority (HMS).  Here you can find all of the stakeholders involved in the project.

A systematic effort was made to minimise the carbon footprint of the building, and recycled raw materials were utilised wherever possible to reduce emissions. Circularity was a priority from the project's early stages to ensure that reuse and recycling were effective.

Concrete

Slabs from BM Vallá's production, which could not be used for their intended purpose, were recycled by crushing them and using them as minerals in concrete (Berglind Plús), which had C25 strength. This concrete was used in several sections of the building. Compared to conventional C25 concrete, Berglind Plús was found to have a carbon footprint up to 40% lower. From the producer's perspective, concrete met all of the requirements; however, its handling needs to be relatively different from that of conventional concrete, and this needs to be considered by the contractors dealing with the material.

Timber

Other

Some of the windows in the apartment complex are windows that would not have been used otherwise and were obtained from Gluggagerðin. A single composite window was made using six reused windows and seven new windows, giving the building a distinct character and, at the same time, reusing waste windows. Doors in storage were reused doors owned by Félagsbústaðir.

Beech parquet from Denmark (including from sports halls) was refinished and used in all apartments.

Stone tiles that were left over from the construction of the new Alþingi office building, Smiðja, were used for the floor in the lobby of the complex.

→ More information about the project can be found here.