Climate change and limited resources are making resource-efficient construction methods increasingly important. The goal is to reduce material and energy consumption throughout a building’s entire life cycle without compromising functionality, aesthetics, or comfort. Ecological materials, smart technologies, and innovative design strategies can combine environmental and economic benefits.

Bioinspiration from marine organisms offers a promising approach. Diatoms and radiolarians, in particular, possess multifunctional structures that provide high mechanical stability, transparency, and aesthetic quality while remaining lightweight. Building on this concept, the goal is to further develop and efficiently manufacture lightweight, load-bearing, thermally insulating, and aesthetically pleasing wall modules. The bio-inspired, double-walled structures will be optimized using genetic algorithms and supplemented by proven design principles. Thin, transparent, or breathable layers, as well as air or aerogel insulation, enable a further reduction in weight and resource consumption.

Oceans 4 focuses on developing various variants, through to prototypes. These are to be incorporated as attractive interior elements in a new kindergarten building. The medium-term goal is sustainable technology transfer, initially involving small-scale production through a spin-off company in Bremerhaven. An important regional partner in this effort is STÄWOG, which has already successfully implemented innovative, ecological, and social projects.