The Subterranean Factory of the future is an alternative to classical industrial human-ecosystem. It aims to minimize a harm done to the original landscape. It will bring both local and industrial communities closer together and demonstrate that jobs and income can be created along proper relationship with local ecosystem.
Local
Poland
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Mainly rural
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
No
No
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Unism Type of organisation: For-profit company First name of representative: Konrad Last name of representative: Weka Age: 29 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Gender: Male Nationality: Poland Function: CEO Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Racławicka 99 Town: Warsaw Postal code: 02-634 Country: Poland Direct Tel:+48723990333 E-mail:studio@unism.eu Website:https://www.unism.eu/
The Factory of the future is an alternative to classical industrial human-ecosystem. It aims to minimize a harm done to the original landscape. It will bring both local and industrial communities closer together and demonstrate that jobs and income can be created along proper relationship with local ecosystem. The subterranean factory floor will have a linear layout that contains three main areas necessary from industrial point of view – a storage space for raw materials, an area for product production and storage for finished products. Yet, positioned on the narrow and gully topography with a six meter height difference the building blue print is organized on two levels and through its green roof is fully blended with the rural landscape. The factory's upper level will be open to the public and will include the visitor center, conference facilities and a research center dedicated to the advancements in ecological packaging. Surrounding the factory, there are plans to develop housing that will respect typology and scale of local villages and further help boost investment in the area. The housing will be set alongside corn fields that will be harvested to create raw materials for Ecopet's sustainable packaging material. The level difference also allows to create a quiet pedestrian route in the fields, separated from noisy vehicle movement behind the factory. This architectural project was made with care and respect for the local area. Many factories are not sensitive to the rural environment. We believe that, unlike typical large-scale industrial buildings, the newly designed Ecopet factory will be symbiotic with nature. We hope that it will become a model for next similar projects in the European industrial space, consistent with the New European Bauhaus.
The project implements the automation of the production line and the use of autonomous mobile robots in warehouses to increase production efficiency. Designing the new industrial site in a way it use robots and autonomous vehicles from start therefore provides unique opportunity to increase personnel safety and decrease energy consumption. This can be achieved both by separating technicians routes from the working area and, if possible, by shortening the distance between the production/warehouse/transport base. Exemplary goal.
The photovoltaic panels area (renewable energy) have been designed in such a way that they do not disturb the landscape (installed on the slightly lowered roof side located on the south side of the building). The vast area of the upper roof will be fully green (biologically active). Green roof provides highly desirable extra water absorption which becomes even more important when combined with massive storage yards&parking lots that are typical factory surroundings. It also enables reuse of graywater for technical purposes such as cleaning. Fully exemplary goal.
Plastic bottles will soon have to be made of 25% recycled material, and from 2030 a minimum of 30%. This was the case with the newly designed production site, which we had to take into account at the design stage. We ended up incorporating a nearby cornfield into the master plan, which turned out to be an excellent source of the bio-additive component. The use of locally available biomaterial, which may possibly replace inorganic components, should become a new standard.
Designing the factory in a kind of basin and using the difference in terrain levels allows not only to preserve the natural landscape but also translates into thermal improvement of the facility. Natural cooling and heating, depending on the season it’s a natural barrier for storage facilities during sunny days, extensively reducing the projected energy consumption in the facility's thermal management.
Located on a narrow and ravine area, the two-storey building will be integrated into the rural landscape. How? First of all, thanks to the streamlined form of the building inspired by nature and the use of the currently popular green roof solution, yet not used before in industrial designs. The unique approach allowed us to use a large level difference as a design opportunity to create a factory fully integrated into the landscape. The single pitched green roof (upper level) fully blends with the cornfield creating an invisible entrance into the factory. It was possible due to combined use of AR/VR & BIM systems on a design level simultaneously incorporating production, safety and technical requirements. It is fully exemplary for new designs.
Beside essential production facilities we included in the design a visitors center, leisure facilities and nearby housing that are fully separated from production site due to unique use of topography as a design advantage to distinct them on separate levels. It is once again an example of an upcoming change in the design approach where factories of the future can be incorporated into popular mixed usage trend. In the contrary of the old factories that are considered uninhabitable and toxic and therefore banished from habitant areas. This itself provides unnecessary traffic problems and further negatively affects the comfort of everyday life.
Open to the public, the factory's upper level will include a visitor center, meeting rooms and a research center dedicated to advances in sustainable packaging. It will also serve as a place for meetings and leisure activities for local community as well as a showroom for other companies interested in creating their own project of the factory of the future. It is part of the design of the first facility with the exemplary context in mind.
Another key objective of our concept in term of inclusion was already mentioned under aesthetics and quality of experience for people and sustainability. It is a design that not only take under consideration needs of the industry but also protect local environment and rural landscape.
Production and living in one single masterplan. It was consulted with local authorities and neighborhood representatives. Masterplan of the design incorporates also the land adjacent to the factory, which also includes plan for retail and housing facilities. It assumes full respect for the typology and scale of local villages and respond to their needs. It gains from growing mixed use concept incorporated to the industrial design.
Cities used to grow around factories which in a result defined the urban fabric. At the beginning were vital for rapid development. From the other hand cities provided necessary infrastructure, transport, workers etc. Soon it became clear that factories located in cities were associated with growing death rates from respiratory diseases. During second industrialization phase (automation) the new factories needed more space for horizontal expansion. As a result were pushed to countryside. Due to lack of the visual regulations entrepreneurs could minimize the cost of the building itself through cheap construction and use of low quality material. That way we ended up creating huge amount of large context-less buildings disconnected form the local community and landscape. Here comes the elephant in the room: Can new factories can symbiotic with environment and landscape? And how to combine that dream with fully functional and economic design that would serve as a real alternative not only for its core functionality but also as a important object that interacts with local community (mixed usage).
Link to the YouTube video with visualization of masterplan for new factory of the future: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p01UtMMantw
The masterplan of the new factory of the future includes a wider campus consisting of commercial facilities and housing that will respect typology and scale of local villages. The studio in collaboration with investor is also working with the local government on identifying potential sites for future developments and existing infrastructure that needs to be refurbished. The final localization of the factory was an outcome of the three-way consultations (Architect, Entrepreneur, Local authorities and communities). We have not only decided to create a masterplan that exceeds the factory blueprint itself but also incorporate the neighborhood and its unique rural landscape but also gain from municipal spatial development plan. The distance between two major polish cities (Lublin and capital city of Warsaw), as well as nearby railway infrastructure where analyzed as part of the blueprint itself.
In terms of interest at the European level, attention should be paid to the growing importance of supply chains. The coronavirus and the war in Ukraine have fundamentally changed the way the world economy is organized and goods are produced. There is increasing pressure to move the industry back to Europe. At the same time, we should remain consistent with the assumptions of the European Green Deal and the long-term goals of the 2050 strategy. Our approach directly addresses these problems with new design approach for the factories of the future. If we are to open more production facilities in Europe, it should be done properly with respect for nature and the inclusion of local stakeholders.
Innovative design approach consist of simultaneous use of BIM&AR/VR software. In a result we were able to design unique HVAC system that is fully mixed with production facilities and necessary additional infrastructure along with green roof. It is a very dynamic design and only fully digital approach from scratch, made it possible due to ongoing corrections necessary to identify multiple conflicts and collisions. As a result we ended up with green roof and full separation of the automates production site. It was necessary to achieve symbiotic look with local rural landscape as well as incorporating mixed use into design of the factory of the future. In order to achieve it we also had to use difficult parametric geometry that enabled design of two sloping roofs that composed together create a hidden entrance (further integration into the rural landscape) and the construction of a skylight (natural light source) with full respect to fire protection rules and other necessary technical aspects.
Our factory of the future design aims to stay symbiotic with local nature by blending its form with a gully topography through a green roof. Unlike a typical large-scale industrial development, the EcoPet first factory of the future aims to stay symbiotic with nature by blending its form with the local landscape.
- The key to our innovative design approach is to combine augmented reality and virtual reality tools together with Building Information Modeling (BIM) and production facility blueprints which ends up in comprehensive next level parametric design fully symbiotic with nature and local rural landscape.
- The idea of the concept itself is also quite innovative because it is in opposition to classic factories. It is coherent with European Green Deal masterplan. By blending shape of the building with the local landscape and increased green area, it has a change to become a fully functional industrial facility with minimum negative impact to local surroundings, and at the same time a space serving the local community and remaining a functional environment for leisure activities.
Link to YouTube video with visualization of new factory of the future design: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaOdLvrREWk
Our subterranean factory for food packaging company EcoPet in Poland aims to become a blueprint for large scale developments in rural landscapes. The unique approach to use the level difference as a key design opportunity that transforms into real benefits:
- the level difference across the site allows to separate a quiet pedestrian route in the fields from the noisy vehicle movement behind the factory.
- fully symbiotic with the nature by blending the form of the building with the local landscape
The next level parametric design inspired by nature reshape the way industrial production facilities designs. The green roof and usage of gully topography as a design advantage is something completely new in case of the production site and has several major benefits:
- green roof is bioactive and serve as a habitant for insects but also helps the factory to blend into local rural environment. The idea not seen in industrial designs so far.
- while lowered and hidden in the basin it benefits from natural thermal protection, which is especially important for storage facilities.
- new parametric design helps both to minimize space needed for production facilities and separate it from rest of the factory (mixed use) but also to design a special skylight (natural light source) and hidden entrance that even further adapts it to the local environment.
- principles of design for all, preserving the local environment and rural landscape through a new approach to the design of industrial facilities. More green areas can and should be implemented in industrial blueprints, and the factory for the future project has this concept in heart. Factories located in rural areas are the main disruptors, but also a growth indicator as they provide jobs. In the factory of the future project, a new industrial facility combines both strengthening of the local economy and preserving the quality of the rural landscape, heritage and cultural traditions of the local community.
- by having nature in its core the project strengthen the most needed feeling of being part of nature and bring a change of perspective towards nature in industrial designs.
- the first implementation in EcoPet factory will also serve as a proof-of-concept and hopefully will inspire other European entrepreneurs to embrace nature and preserve the beauty of local landscape in their new manufacturing facilities that will be built in the upcoming future. It can be perceived as an ignition in a reshape process in the industrial designs. In this context it applies to both smaller and bigger scale as much as rural and urban context. It can serve as a model of how to harmoniously integrate an industrial plant into a local landscape and preserve its heritage.
- mixed use concept translated into production facilities as a new approach to benefit local communities.
- bringing supply-chains back to Europe with nature in center of the design coherent with European Green Deal and green goals set to 2050.
