Malgorzata Mader, Lodz University of Technology, Lodz, Poland

ECOmunnity FACTORY is a multilayered project, which raises the problem of post-industrial cities and possibilities of turning wasted structures into livable, forward-looking housing areas. Third biggest city in Poland- Lodz has been facing this problem since 1989 and the fall of industry after post-communist structural changes.

As a city created particularly for industry and its development, Lodz’s urban tissue includes many factory complexes absorbed into expanding downtown. In a constant fight for generating new functions in industrial buildings, one-space, big production halls are often being demolished regardless of the value. Project shows how seeming difficulties can be turned into advantages and how flexible, production hall`s space can become ecological co-housing.

The days when the sustainability of a construction project was a matter of ad hoc measures are over – sustainable construction has become systematic and specific. This was emphatically shown by the results of the Holcim Awards in region Europe: The first prize was shared by two projects in Brussels, both of which excel in terms of their multi-functionality.

The author proposes to covert an abandoned factory building into a multifamily housing ensemble in an industrial neighborhood of the city of Lodz. A new wooden structure is inserted within the existing steel frame, establishing a careful balance between the old and the new. The individual housing units are distributed to create an alternating sequence of outdoor courtyards and indoor living spaces, with trees irregularly dispersed throughout the building complex. Spatial qualities unfold from the juxtaposition of the existing large-scale factory structure and the small-scale framework of the new housing units. A range of measures are additionally introduced to increase the building’s ecological performance, while foregrounding community-building via participatory processes, ultimately giving credence to the author’s vision of an “ecommunity” architecture.

Building re-use

Trying to re-use existing architecture and avoiding its demolition should be one of the main concerns when designing for cities. Eliminating the demolition process reduces pollution and cost of investment, and often saves historical value. Ecommunity Factory is showing how to activate post-industrial plots in a simple way. Wooden skeleton is designed among existing steel structure and reinforced concrete walls of an old production hall from the 1960s. Each housing unit is connected to the roof to obtain good lighting conditions. As the design is divided into existing “outer shell” and “inner frame” structure, the building process is shared into two stages: adjustment of production building and never-ending stage of formation the evolving living space.