Kinark Sustainable Living Centre
An experiment in prefaB construction
2006 Sustainable Building & Design project
For Kinark’s Sustainable Living Centre, we set out to create a beautiful, functional and comfortable space using materials and methods that have the least possible effect on the environment during construction. Nearly all the materials were harvested on site or locally, using the abundant resources on the 600 acre site. The resulting building is a low-tech wonder, using innovative approaches to make the most of low-cost approaches to achieve high standards of performance.
Earthbag foundation combined with natural stone footings
Unique waste wood structural columns supporting round pole roof beams
Straw bale and straw/clay walls with locally harvested earthen plaster
Annualized geo-solar tempering of interior environment
Off-grid energy system with photovoltaics
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4C’s Food Bank and 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…