Danish architect Bjarke Ingels has collaborated with clothing brand Vollebak to create an entirely self-sufficient, off-grid home on an island within Jeddore Harbour, in Nova Scotia, Canada.
The house at the centre of the island will be a 597-square-metre home called Earth House, consisting of nine connected buildings surrounding a central courtyard. The living block will be made entirely from thatch, while its four bedrooms will be fire-retardant hempcrete. A boathouse will be insulated with seaweed and a star-gazing room will be built from polished concrete. Also connected to the home will be a greenhouse made entirely of glass brick and used to grow food for the island’s residents, as well as a Japanese-style bathhouse containing tubs cut from the island’s bedrock.
In addition to the main residence, an eight-metre-high, triangular two-bedroom guest house on the eastern shore, called Wood House, will be built from wood from the island. The houses will be powered by a combination of geothermal energy, offshore wind and solar power, while residents can grow food to become self-sufficient.
Ingels and Vollebak designed the house for Leader Island, which has been rebranded Vollebak Island. The island, along with Ingels’ designs that have full permissions to be built, has been auctioned by Sotheby’s Concierge Auctions with a guide price of $5-10m.
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