NATURAL BUILDINGS
Nowadays building has become a sophisticated process using highly processed materials that are part of a huge global industry. At the other end, natural buildings are built to express the local landscape and local traditions and generally harmonize with the environment and feel a part of it. The techniques are many and we love researching, learning and applying the best solutions for our given situations.
Building homes and other structures that are healthy for humans and for the planet is an essential part of sustainability. At Ecovillage Firiteaz we strive towards these ideals as we try to build homes that are functional, aesthetically pleasing, and long-lived. Our idea is to construct shelter that minimizes negative ecological impact, relying on non-industrial, minimally processed, locally available, and renewable, recycled or recovered materials, while leaving room for farming and wilderness on the bulk of our land.
We also aim to integrate electricity production, water catchment, passive heating and cooling, and alternative waste-treatment.
Building Materials
- Straw and natural clay (for buildings)
- Wood, new and recovered (for shepherd beds, structures, benches and furniture)
- Canvas (for tents)
- Willow (for arbors, arches, fences and decorations)
Architecture
Still to be built, our ecovillage is a playful mixed design of straw bales buildings, straw and clay brick houses, tree houses, canvas tents and vegetal structures. And this is only the beginning of the dream!
HAPPENING THIS YEAR
- administrative and sanitary group building
- first accommodation units (tents and wood shepherd huts)
- a clay oven for bread
- start hand making cob bricks for future buildings
SHAPING THE FUTURE
Under his coordination, two of our main buildings will be built:
– the Center Hall (conference room, activities and workshop space) and
– one office and reception building.
The construction of the houses will begin in 2021, through three workshops to which you will be able to sign up in our Event section when announced:
Workshop 1: “Making a Hogan roof”
Workshop 2: “Construction with straw and yellow ground”
Workshop 3: “Making green roofs”
These workshops will be facilitated by the well-known professor and engineer in ecological construction Gernot Minke.
In the near future we will announce more workshops in which you can learn to build ecological homes. Subscribe to our newsletter for real time news.
