Every month, industries and power plants waste an enormous amount of heat, which, if recovered and redistributed would be more than enough to acclimatize all the households and office buildings in the Netherlands. As part of this heat recovery system, FABRICations designed the Groningen heat hub, a storage and distribution facility, specifically arranged to serve the local heat network, and to host public activities.
The Heat Hub is an architectural strategy to store and re-distribute hot water in a better and more dynamic way. To prevent a mono-functional tower as a result, FABRICations inserted different programs, in order to use the heat in excess, and by doing so, achieve social-cultural connections in an active public space.
The Heat hub has three functional levels: as a technical building, connecting heat infrastructures, as a public meeting point with sports and research facilities, and as a symbol for Groningen as a region of energy.
Being an icon, the tower offers also a physical connection point between the university campus and the Zernike Science Park, a research-based industrial area with energy as a spear point.
In case you are interested in other heat recovery strategies, and heat hubs, you can check our Rotterdam project Heath and CO2
Location: Groningen, Netherlands
Program: Design proposal for public facilities combined with geothermal energy hub
Commissioner: Groningen Municipality
Design Directors: Eric Frijters, Olv Klijn
Project Manager: José Cocchiararo
Team: Nina Mertanen, Lloyd Martin