The SECMOL (Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh) School building features rammed-earth construction and passive solar architecture. The region has a cold desert climate with temperature variation from 20°C (68°F) in summer to -30°C (-22°F) in winter. Luckily this area has over 300 sunny days per year, so the sun is a reliable energy … Read more
Freya’s House is an off-grid green building that showcases multiple natural building techniques from straw bale, cob, and rammed earth walls, to earthen floors, a green roof, and reclaimed, salvaged and locally sourced materials. It uses solar power for electricity, a legal composting toilet, and on-site greywater filtration. The house is located at O.U.R Ecovillage … Read more
Melburnians Sarah Corbet and David Bruce bought a 7.5 acre block of land in central Victoria with plans for their future retirement and a slower paced life. They engaged Altereco Design to design the house, ideally to be made with hempcrete. Sarah and David requested a ‘warm design’ that was functional as well as beautiful. … Read more
Cupa Pizarras has developed natural slate rainscreen facades with a variety of patterns to meet needs which demand more sustainable and energy-efficient buildings. The combination of high-durability slate with innovative fastening techniques, as well as the efficiency of rainscreen cladding, makes it a good choice. From traditional to contemporary styles, the various design possibilities of … Read more
Flat House in Cambridgeshire, UK, looks like a typical barn conversion, but inside, the look and feel is something quite different. “The walls remind me of hay bale dens we used to make as kids,” says Flat House’s owner Gemma Barron. “It has the most lovely acoustic quality. And last year we had the heating … Read more
Transparent wood has the potential to replace glass and plastic and also promises to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of buildings. Transparent wood is created through a process that involves the removal of lignin, which gives wood its color and rigidity, from the wood’s cellular structure. Then a transparent polymer fills the empty spaces left … Read more