San José, Costa Rica
Oliver Schütte from the Dutch-Costa Rican-based firm A-01 has developed the “No Footprint House” (NFH) located in Ojochal, a small village at the edge of the vast tropical rain forests along the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica.
A-01’s project is among a number aiming to reduce the carbon footprint of houses, as architects address the climate crisis and environmental impact of the building industry by design in carbon-neutral buildings and carbon-negative buildings.
Also known as NFH-108, the house forms part of A-01’s mission to develop carbon-neutral construction in Costa Rica.
Oliver Schütte previously worked with Dutch architecture firm OMA to create a carbon-neutral roadmap in 2010, that was later modified and then ratified by the national government in 2018.
NFH-108 is the first iteration of No Footprint House, a project that it intends to create a prefab house with a zero-carbon footprint. According to the A-01, this version has 40 percent less carbon emissions than a typical Costa Rican house of the same size.
“No Footprint House” responds to its surrounding habitat by passive climate control through natural ventilation and solar shading according to the principles of bioclimatic architecture.
The NFH is organized around a central service core, which includes all machinery and intelligence, as well as the bathrooms, kitchen, and laundry area.
The compression of utilities in one compact unit enables an open floor plan all around the core, a design strategy that contributes to the building efficiency in terms of assembly, maintenance, and use.
Slanted facades decrease the direct impact of sunlight and precipitation. Individual panels can be opened or closed to regulate views and exposure, augment or reduce air flows, and create privacy and security.
The operable facade sections convert interior to exterior spaces and play with the dynamic between nature and the built environment, one of the key features of tropical architecture.
The modular prefabricated home is developed as a prototype for serial production, based on a systemic catalog for sustainable residential typologies.
A wide range of affordable, customizable, and replicable solutions is catering to a broad customer segment.
The NFH is designed to minimize the impact of construction and merge with its natural surroundings, seeking integral sustainability in terms of its environmental, economic, social, and spatial performance.
A second iteration of “No Footprint House” is already underway and A-01 said it will achieve a 60 percent reduction, with changes such as swapping the steel for a locally-sourced laminated teak wood that the studio’s engineers developed with a Swiss-Costa Rican company.
Project: The No Footprint House
Architects: A-01
Lead Architect: Oliver Schütte
Designer team: José Pablo González, Mauricio Rodríguez, Misael Rodríguez, Ronald Carvajal, and Luuc van Wezel
MEP engineering: Pablo Mora, Consost
Client: Private
Photography: Fernando Alda Fotografía