Wind turbines are essential to the global transition from fossil fuels to green energy. But what happens when wind turbine blades reach the end of their useful life? They often end up in landfills, which of course is not ideal. With that problem in mind, one architect has come up with a clever idea: use the discarded rotor blades as building material.
The project came about in collaboration with Swedish green energy giant Vattenfall. The company also previously explored the possibility of converting a used turbine casing (which contains the generator and gearbox) into a tiny house. The idea for this project came about when architect Jonas Lloyd of Lloyd's Arkitektkontor was asked by property developer LKP to build a new car park.
He came up with the idea after reading a magazine article on the challenges faced by the wind turbine industry in recycling discarded blades. Rotor blades are designed to withstand decades of wind and weather and are therefore made of various composite materials, such as glass and carbon fibre. This makes the blades extremely durable, but also difficult to recycle.
The building where the discarded turbine blades are used is the Niels Bohr car park in the Brunnshög district on the outskirts of Lund, Sweden. It comprises from 365 parking spaces spread over five floors, including 40 charging points for electric vehicles and its own battery for energy storage. Vattenfall donated 57 discarded rotor blades, which were carefully cut and then mounted on the facade to form the building's curtain walls. That is, the non-load-bearing walls that cover large parts of the decorative exterior. The exterior also features planters with local greenery, which will add colour to the building's appearance over time.
Lloyd hopes the turbines can be used for more architectural projects in the future and inspire others to think differently about construction waste.
