Openly Valley Stage 2 - Construction Diary
Further Developments in the Building System:
Serial prefabrication of hemp-lime exterior walls on the new production line at Cancret Materials, an Openly spin-off
All interior walls will be constructed using a clay drywall system with the new 12.5mm clay building board. Cost-neutral.
LBD 1 clay ceiling system with clay on the underside. Cost-neutral compared to the box-girder ceiling used in Phase 1
Airbox 2.0 with Minergie P certification
More affordable, quieter, and—above all—plug-and-play. No longer requires on-site installation or electrical design planning.Eco-Concrete vs. Biochar: Concrete with the Same Net CO2 Footprint
Back to a conventional floor construction using anhydride
We are now reaching construction costs of approximately 900 CHF/m3. The key is building within the system. Each additional Openly project reduces costs through faster planning cycles (months instead of years), the industrialization of alternative, biogenic building materials, and the consistent use of component groups.
Prefabrication Live: A Special Look Inside the Factory
While the floor slab is being poured at the construction site in Widnau, the wood-frame wall panels for the next construction phases are rolling off the production line at Schöb AG’s manufacturing facility. Each panel is individually configured for its specific location in the building—including window and door openings, utility routing, and the new bracing.
The Floor Slab: Concrete, Yes—But With a Clear Conscience
Pouring the floor slab: The mix, which includes CO₂-reduced cement from Holcim Eco Planet, was specially adapted for this project by network partner Sieber.
A floor slab is almost impossible to construct without concrete. From Openly’s perspective, however, traditional concrete—as a high-emission material—is precisely the product we want to avoid as much as possible. The solution: low-carbon cement (Holcim Eco Planet). However, this cement behaves very differently from conventional concrete during processing—the mixture is more viscous and requires a different consistency during preparation.