Home : 10 Sustainable Houses You Would Love to Live in – Samah Aly – Medium
By now, everyone has probably heard of sustainability as a design trend. It seems, though, that many people share a common belief that living in sustainable houses or dressing in sustainable clothes would be a set back from the comfortable and modern lifestyle they have got used to. So, is this true? Well, one thing we know for sure is that if we keep up with our ways and ignore the warning calls of nature, we will definitely lose all the comforts we have become accustomed to, and there will be no way back. As for the previous question, you can give an answer yourself after checking this collection of outstanding sustainable houses from all over the world. Wouldn’t you like to live in any of these? Well, let’s see.
1-Slip House — Carl Turner Architects
This is a 200-square-meter house in South London’s Brixton area. The house is composed of three stacked boxes, slightly shifted from one another and all clad in translucent glass planks. It is provided with solar-assisted heat pumps for indoor thermal comfort, mechanical ventilation, and photovoltaic cells, in addition to a rainwater harvesting system.
Courtesy of Carl Turner Architects — Photography: Tim Crocker
2-ZEB Pilot House — Snøhetta
This house in Larvik, Norway, is of total area 220sqm. It features a distinctive tilt towards the southeast, with solar panels covering its sloped roof. It has underground energy wells to compliment the house’s needs of energy and more. The house’s geometry, orientation, and glass panels’ placement are adjusted to achieve passive heating and cooling. Also, its interior finishes are carefully selected for enhanced indoor climate and air quality.
Courtesy of Snøhetta — Photography: Bruce Damonte
Courtesy of Snøhetta — Photography: EVE
3-Fall House — Fougeron Architecture
The three-bedroom house, on California’s southern coast stretch of Big Sur, is embedded in the sloping land towards the water surface. Its high-performance glass skin provides maximized views of the ocean and surrounding nature as well as daylight access to all rooms while reducing solar heat gain. Radiant hydronic heating is used to maintain thermal comfort for the entire house whose layout, also, promotes stack ventilation, another energy efficient method to improve indoor climate.
Courtesy of Fougeron Architecture — Photography: Joe Fletcher Photography
4-Haus W — by Kraus Schoenberg
There is another house embedded in the sloping grass-covered ground, but in Hamburg, Germany. Haus W is a 2-storey prefabricated and low-energy house. It has an all-around glazed ground floor viewing the sloping garden, and a first floor that is clad in sustainable white painted timber. The CNC-cut timber provides indoor thermal comfort by insulation and it is, also, recyclable.
Courtesy of Kraus Schoenberg Architects — Photography: Ioana Marinescu
5-MO House — by FRPO
The single family house is located in a forest on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain. The disaggregated design of the house was derived from the desire to integrate it with the forest, placing box-like masses in the gaps between the trees. The house is constructed from the light cross-laminated wood panel, eliminating the need for deep foundation and providing thermal insulation.
Courtesy of FRPO — Photography: Miguel de Guzmán
6-Edgeland House — by Bercy Chen Studio
Edgeland House is located on a reclaimed brownfield site in Austin, Texas. Its design was inspired by the vernacular pit houses of Native Americans. The house comprises two green-roofed wings which shade each other from the sun. A linear courtyard extends between both wings, permitting air flow. The house is designed to leave minimal impact on the site. Its sloped green roofs are meant to heal and restore wildlife to the deserted scarred land.
Courtesy of Bercy Chen Studio — Photography: Paul Bardagjy
7-Casa Nirau — by Paul Cremoux Studio
Casa Nirau is an upgraded 2-storey family house in Mexico City. Its area was reduced from 2,754 sqft to 1,937 sqft, to minimize its footprint, and so its indoor spaces were redistributed. The energy-efficient house consumes a monthly $15 value of electricity and natural gas. It, also, employs a rainwater harvesting system which utilizes carbon-activated filters to convert the water collected by the roof and terrace into drinkable water.
Courtesy of Paul Cremoux Studio — Image via freshome.com
8-Caruth Boulevard Residence — by Tom Reisenbichler | Perkins + Williams
The Gold LEED certified residence is located in Dallas, Texas. Its elegant design merges between luxurious and sustainable housing. The house is built to fit in between the already existing trees on the site. It features sleek horizontal planes and lines which variously repeat all over the façade to highlight the surrounding trees. The house is, also, provided with photovoltaic cells and drought-resistant landscape plants, in addition to incorporating recycled materials in its finishes.
Courtesy of Tom Reisenbichler — Photography: Bret Janak
9-House by the Pond — by Stelle Lomont Rouhani Architects
The L-shaped 2-storey house in Water Mills, New York, takes the form of a perfect rectangle by adding the backyard deck and vast pool to its layout. With a lake to its south, the design of the house guarantees maximized views of both adjacent water surfaces by widely using energy efficient glass panels. These, in addition to the clerestory windows, provide sufficient natural light, and sunshades are used to minimize the solar heat gain in summer and preserve it in winter.
Courtesy of Stelle Lomont Rouhani Architects — Photography: Mathew Carbone
10-OUTrial House — by KWK PROMES
OUTrial House is located on a 1,440-square-meter site in Książenice, Poland. The house itself has a total area of 180sqm. It is carved into the grass-covered site, such that part of the ground is raised to act as a green roof for the house, providing it with natural insulation all year around. The floor-to-ceiling glass panels, used extensively on the ground floor, let in the natural light and allow pleasant views of the surrounding greenery.
Courtesy of KWK PROMES
Source: Sustainable Houses
