naturvillan is a self-sufficient, off-grid A-frame greenhouse home in sweden

NATURVILLAN – MINIMAL ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT, RELIABLE ENERGY SUFFICIENT SOLUTIONS

Sweden-based company Naturvillan creates homes that aim for minimal environmental footprint, fitted with reliable energy efficient solutions, ecological materials, protective climate shells, automatic irrigation and ecocycle-systems giving back nutrients from wastewater to the in-house garden plants. Offering four different types, the company is currently selling Atri, a unique building, steady on the ground and stretching towards the sky.

Atri is a climate-smart A-frame greenhouse villa with its own system for heating, electricity, water and nutrient recovery completely off-grid.

images by Marcus Eliasson

THE A-FRAME DESIGN REFERENCES THE SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS

Naturvillan includes highly engineered systems and components, which have been developed by years of working and living in nature houses. Located on the shores of Lake Vänern, the house features mile-wide lake views and a natural plot with beautiful rock slabs.

The design language of the natural villa was based on following the tapered, pointed triangular-like peaks of the conifers. The shape gives, up close, a very strong visual architecture with a very stable base directly on the mountain. The house then decreases with the height where the house blends in among the treetops and harmonizes with the landscape, which from a distance gives a naturally conceivable humble impression.

BUILT TO OPERATE COMPLETELY OFF-GRID

The house has a continuous axis where you can see through the whole house and its view already in the entrance. Air and light enter from several directions. Inside the house, the architecture is well-thought-out for close interaction between houses, greenhouses, nature, views, togetherness and private rooms.

Atri has been built to be operated completely off-grid. During summer, the solar cells provide electricity to the battery that drives the house and heats hot water. In winter, a wood-fired kitchen pan provides heat and hot water, with a hob and oven for cooking. It is required that the homeowner keeps track of how much energy is in batteries in relation to the owner’s lifestyle. If necessary, the power plant needs to be run to top up the battery.

In the darkest winter, depending on lifestyle and the house’s current battery pack, it is estimated that there will be a need to run the power plant for a couple of hours every other day. In the event of prolonged absence in cold winter, there are various options to prevent the temperature in the house from falling below freezing.

Drinking water is available from the property’s own drilled well. The principle is that nutrients and water in the wastewater are recycled and purified in the greenhouse’s plant beds, where macro and microbiota interact with the plants’ root systems. The industry is converted into fruit and vegetables, whereby the cycle ends with the return of food to the homeowner.