ᐅ Swedish Prefabricated Panel House / AB-Elementhus Renovation vs Demolition

I wish you all a Happy New Year. Since access to the documents at the building authority is taking a bit longer, we have already moved into the renovated solid garden-level floor. The renovation of the ground floor and the roof—everything of the Visby type from SEH—is still pending. Like the original poster, I am going through all scenarios before starting construction. The cleanest but also most expensive option: demolition and rebuilding the same floor plan on the solid garden-level floor with, for example, solid wood walls (not timber frame construction, as I do not want any plastic vapor barriers in the walls that could eventually be accidentally punctured or damaged by someone (maybe even myself), causing a long-term mold problem). Plan B is to work with the wall construction described by HarvSpec. However, I have several questions here, and maybe you can offer advice and suggestions.

Question 1: Improving the insulation of the exterior walls. I am concerned that the aluminum layer on the outside is a problem. Is it possible to remove it with reasonable effort? Interior insulation seems problematic to me and reduces the living space inside the house.

Question 2: The entire exterior wall construction, consisting of 20cm (8 inches) wide vertical elements placed side by side, forms the basis of the overall structural stability of the house as I understand it. Can I add window openings here or replace existing windows with floor-to-ceiling and full-height windows?

I have many more questions, but these two are the most urgent. I would appreciate your advice as well as creative (sensible and affordable) suggestions, tips, and ideas.

Best regards

I was not able to determine the exact type of our house. We have a basement with a ground floor built as a single-family detached house featuring an unfinished cold attic.

We decided to leave the structure as it is. I actually find the design very good, and it allows us to create wonderful rooms. We are replacing all the windows, some with the same size and others full-height.

As you can see in my previous post, we installed lintels that were calculated by our structural engineer, whom I would definitely consult again. This now allows us to install full-height windows or lift-and-slide doors.

Installing new windows into the walls is not particularly complicated, but you need to be careful not to have all the wood chips fall inside. This can be avoided by using a pre-installed protective foil.

Regarding your first question, I would specifically recommend consulting an architect experienced in timber construction or a building physicist. The aluminum layer can be removed, but it is an extremely labor-intensive task. How exactly this will be done is still an open issue for me.

Here is an update with new windows

Suspended ceiling and new balcony installed:

And a few before and after pictures.

Hello HarvSpec,

may I ask how your project is progressing? And what were the results of the wood test for contaminants? Do you also happen to know whether these houses contain asbestos?
Best regards