In a new high-tech neighbourhood in Lund in Southern Sweden, turbine blades from a decommissioned Vattenfall wind farm will become a very visible part of the façade of a multistorey car park.
When the city of Lund’s parking company LKP commissioned a parking house for the new neighbourhood Brunnshög in the north-east part of the town, where European Spallation Source, is being built, architect Jonas Lloyd decided to incorporate decommissioned blades.
Wind turbine blades are made to deliver electricity and withstand tough weather for decades.
Materials such as glass fibre, carbon fibre, epoxy resin, balsa wood, metals and various fillers are pressed tightly together in layers, making the blades extremely durable but difficult to recycle.
“To take something that is perfectly functional, arguably one of the best materials in the world –more or less indestructible – and just bury it in the ground is such a terrible waste,” said Lloyd.
Instead, he plans to use turbine blades from Vattenfall’s decommissioned Danish wind park Norre Okse So in the façade to create the curtain walls, or non-structural walls, together with green walls from pollinator-friendly plants.
The roof will be covered by solar panels and batteries will store the produced electricity for cars that are typically charged at night.
“We wanted to create what is called visible sustainability.
“That it will be something that really shouts out sustainability.
“People will walk past and say, ‘look at that, they’ve used wind turbine blades in the façade’,” said Lloyd.