Just as old buildings are part of the image of a city, its inhabitants are also part of this treasure of experiences and have been shaped by the environment and its architecture. For this, it is important to create technical opportunities for renovation so that both buildings and residents can continue to be an inclusive part of the urban legacy. At the same time, this needs to be enabled in an aesthetic way that people will readily embrace.The proposed solution (GET system) consists of an exoskeleton supporting available technologies, to solve the safety-energy-inclusion-beauty challenges at a time. An application (GET.onE.app) with advanced visualization is used as a central tool for owners, occupants, architects, and engineers to communicate and transform the building's renovation process into the most inclusive experience possible, with prefabricated units allowing the extension of living spaces. The holistic approach is applied in a full-scale pilot in Athens (Student house, B FEPA building, University of Athens) and other exploitation models are active for the replication in the EU context.
The project’s key objective consists in an unprecedented integration of technologies and strategies to achieve a multi-benefit approach for an efficient, attractive, and socially inclusive renovation with the highest performances (iii) in terms of:
i) Safety requirements – using the solution of an exoskeleton to increase the overall structural capacity of the building, while supporting the new envelopes (timber-based components, aluminum windows, PV and solar panels);
ii) Energy requirements – by adding new prefab and plug and play envelopes, HVAC and RES;
iii) Social sustainability – increasing the real estate value of the buildings and the desirability of retrofit options by providing space extension with tailored and customized solutions (i.e. balcony, sun-space and extra-room).
The real pilot in Athens is a reference model that shows an innovative, yet readily implementable system for buildings’ envelope for structural, energy and user-orientated retrofit, while increasing the value and the life cycle of buildings.
In contrast to standard renovation actions, that are usually implemented according to over-imposed solutions with limited benefit for final users, the GET integrated system, provides a complete re-shaping of the existing building, which is made visible and experienced both from indoor spaces by the inhabitants and the citizens looking at the building from the outdoor areas. The re-style of the building is conceived by means of façade add-ons, tailored on different social expectations, and defined with variable options; these extensions are, in fact, the results of a combination of human needs as observed in terms of social/ethnographic studies and cost-effective solutions. The project thus makes visible and attractive “the invisibility of retrofit” according to a vision of attractiveness which firstly and foremost reflects the people's perception and attitudes to beauty, as both individuals and community.
