Biomass power plant

The biomass power plant is a purely technical plant for a pellet heating centre with a wood gasifier for generating electricity from pellets, located on the edge of the settlement of Niederanven, a municipality close to the city, near an area with leisure activities. The design challenge was to optimally integrate the purely technical building into the landscape.

It consists of a base plate with silos, incinerators, transformers, ventilation systems, chimneys, a flare and the control technology. The dimensions of the building were determined by the arrangement and size of the plant components. A concrete container was placed over these elements, in which openings were cut for the entrances, ventilation and chimneys. A screw conveyor for the pellets was added.

To avoid a purely technical expression and to achieve optimum integration of the building into its surroundings, a canopy made of wooden rods was placed over these elements. The result is an abstract, homogeneous form with a slightly sculptural character. The untreated wooden poles conceal ventilation grilles, rain pipes, the pellet conveyor system, chimneys, lightning conductors, etc. At the same time, they lend the volume a certain permeability and airiness and allow climbing plants to take over the volume. In this way, it becomes part of nature over time.

A viewing window provides a view of the interior. Information panels explain the plant components and digitally display the relevant energy figures.