4C’s Food Bank & Thrift Store
Natural building for a food bank & thrift store
2005 Sustainable Building & Design project
In downtown Haliburton, Ontario, the 4Cs charity runs a food bank that is supported by sales from the attached Lily Ann thrift store. Fronting onto a commercial street, it’s hard to tell that this unassuming storefront is a remarkable natural building! From it’s rubble foundation to the solar panels on the roof, every part of this building is designed for maximum sustainability.
Rubble trench foundation with earthbag perimeter beam
Load-bearing straw bale walls with locally sourced earthen plaster inside and out
Earthen floor slab with hydronic in-floor heating
Earth tube ventilation system
Natural and non-toxic plaster, paint and finishes throughout
View this project from start to finish!
Flip through our project e-book and visit our BLOG for posts related to this project
Explore our other projects
Zero House
2017 Sustainable Building & Design project- A lot of zeros add up to an amazing little house: zero net energy, zero carbon footprint, zero toxins, zero waste. Oh, and the whole building needed to be prefabricated and modular so it could be put up and taken down multiple…
Teachers’ Union Offices
2014 Sustainable Building & Design project- The Trillium-Lakelands Elementary Teachers’ Union wanted a new office and meeting hall that reflected the high environmental standards they teach to their students. We used the Passive House standard to set our energy efficiency…
Farm Hub and Root Cellar
2013 Sustainable Building & Design project- Circle Organics grows amazing vegetables, and they needed an amazing place to wash, process and store those vegetables, as well as accommodations and meeting space for farm workers…