Silo Oil Home: Oil silos becomes a sustainable home

The famous theory of “peak oil” has repeatedly failed to determine when they will end the petroleum resources. The cause lies mainly in the uncertainty of the entity of oil resources, the extraction techniques and future demand. It is also true that new prospecting and drilling technologies and the achievement of new deposits, previously considered inaccessible, have repeatedly moved forward the time of peak production. Admitted that the availability of petroleum is still there for a long time, the question is: the planet will be able to support the growing negative environmental impact of the extraction and use of this resource? It is clear that the petroleum age will not end for the shortage of petroleum, but it must stop to save the planet from self-destruction.

In the world there are about 49 000 silos for oil in about 700 refineries. The day that oil will no longer be used, as these giant containers can be reused? The idea of PINKCLOUD.DK architects is to retrieve and convert them into homes.

Silo Oil Home is an energy self-sufficient home. It is waterproof, structurally stable, easy to disassemble and assemble, a much more economical solution of new houses built with traditional techniques and adaptable to mass production. Before you turn it into a home the silo should be cleaned from toxic substances inside. For this reason, the designers have developed a process which provides for the introduction into the silo of some types of bacteria capable of converting hydrocarbons into fatty acids which later integrate in their cell membrane, leaving only harmless components within the silos. Subsequently, the silo can be broken down into parts and reassembled in another place, adding new components all prefabricated: floors, walls, balconies and windows.

The Silo Oil Home are powered only by renewable energy sources. The spherical shape of the silo defines the optimal conditions for the installation of solar panels, capturing the solar radiation from any orientation and angle. These homes are designed to be built close to each other to form a smart grid, which is a sustainable community capable of generating more energy than is needed, so being able to give in to nearby buildings. The shape of the silos and the fact of being raised from the ground also ensures a better heat distribution and passive ventilation. There are also a rainwater recycling system and the roof garden accessible via the elevator to all the inhabitants of the house.

In each Silo Oil Home has three units: a unit of 225 square meters on one level for a large family and other 2 units of 90 and 180 square meters on two levels. The accessibility to the units is ensured by an outer and a central tire lift scale. In the living and sleeping areas of each apartment it is guaranteed natural light through large windows and the introduction of prefabricated balconies.

In the Silo Oil Home nothing is overlooked and, although these houses totally green seem very futuristic, could become a perfectly smart and sustainable solution for the new era of renewable energy.