green house in Limpopo

Lengau Lodge in Limpopo, South Africa, is illustrated and described in New Sustainable Homes: Designs for Healthy Living. This house, like many others that are far from municipal services, has incorporated a number of features to minimize resource consumption and maximize comfort:

• thatch roof is an excellent insulator;
• high ceilings and large gable end windows allow cross-ventilation;
• structural timber is of locally grown plantation pine;
• bricks are locally manufactured;
• design allows deep penetration of sunlight to reduce need for lighting;
• winter sun heats concrete floors and thick masonry walls;
• shower water drains into planting areas;
• septic tanks overflow to aerobic rock filters and into wetlands; and
• gardens include drought-resistant wild grasses.

The house is also described in Architect Online.

Comments

[Glen]

It looks fantastic, they've managed to blend contemporary with African bushveld in an efficient design and sourcing local materials. I was interested to read the water saving ideas: The black- and grey-water is fed through a series of filters and flows into the watering hole for wildlife. Man-made earth swales to direct any rainfall to where it's needed. And drought resistant plants.