Close contact to nature

The co-housing community Kløverbakken has risen from the ground on a large sloping plot outside Odder, 20 km south of Aarhus. The newly established co-housing community is based on the idea of living more sustainably and on giving equal weight to environmental, social and financial factors in all decisions.

The traditional village and village street have served as inspiration for the development, resulting in a well-defined centre with street space connecting the individual houses. The whole of Kløverbakken has a very organic feel with its winding street and the sloping terrain, which provides fine views across the town and the surrounding countryside.

Sustainability and a strong sense of community have guided the process and choices regarding everything from materials to meals, transport and energy consumption. The development comprises a total of 58 homes in six different formats, none of them exceeding 125 square metres. The modest size of the homes and their architecture have been conceived as a direct response to the challenges associated with excessive consumption in construction as well as in people’s everyday lives. Importantly, everyone has a share in the communal building at the centre of the development, where there is communal dining, a café, guest rooms and an orangery.

Kløverbakken offers the opportunity to live in balance with nature’s resources, and thus achieve greater balance in your own life and that of the community.

Fine housing qualities

The homes are detached, semi-detached or two-storey houses. Externally, the houses are relatively similar architecturally and constructed of wooden elements made of FSC-certified wood and heat-treated facades. The roofs have been planted with sedum.

Inside, the houses are more varied depending on the wishes of the first owners regarding galleried areas, number of bathrooms, and the choice of kitchen and bathrooms. The single-storey houses have vaulted ceilings with skylights, while the two-storey houses have a light shaft between the floors.

Troldtekt acoustic panels are a recurring material throughout all the houses, ensuring good acoustics and thus superior comfort. Troldtekt also meets the requirements for Nordic Swan Ecolabelled construction, and counts positively towards DGNB certification. Troldtekt works with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), among other things with sustainability initiatives in its products and production.

“The development has had a strong focus on materials and carbon footprint. All the houses are built of wood, and the average house size is significantly smaller than the national average. This results in a lower carbon footprint per resident. The co-housing community has been involved in the choice of materials and architecture, and local plant species have been chosen for a wild patch,” says Lauritz Rasmussen, head of secretariat at the wood industry association Træ i Byggeriet, about the development.