RECOMMENDED VIDEOS

Advance Building Concept : ABCENWOOD
Advance Building Concept Sdn Bhd

Building Green With Wood: Sustainable Construction Material
naturally:wood

Euro Eco Windows
Euro Eco Windows

Stripping Paint With Dilunet, Eco Friendly Paint Remover
Igoe International Ltd

Green Concrete for the Sustainable Built Environment
CeraTech USA, LLC.
Related Stories
‘House of Trash’ proves how waste can transform into beautiful home design
Whimsical park built of recycled materials pops up in Shanghai
Elevated bamboo peace bridge for the Korean Demilitarized Zone unveiled by Shigeru Ban and Jae-Eun Choi
Colossal cardboard temple pops up in Chiang Mai in just one day
“Cannabis walls” add warmth to this eco-friendly home in Israel
04 Jul, 2016

The ultimate solar-powered Ecomo pod home for off-grid living in South Africa
Green Building Materials, Construction & Design | SOUTH AFRICA | 04 Jul, 2016
Published by : Eco Media Asia
Pietro Russo has been perfecting the art of off-grid design for several years now, and we are thrilled to finally present his personal home among one of South Africa's most delicate ecosystems. The architect and his wife spent several months walking their plot in the Moose Valley Nature Reserve to determine how to best position their prefabricated Ecomo pods. Not only did they want to minimize their environmental footprint, but also to optimize every possible vista while at it. The resulting design boasts two large glazed openings and several smaller perforations that soak up the semi-desert landscape.
Ecomo homes are modular and customizable, affording clients a great deal of flexibility. They are also prefabricated, which helps to reduce construction and shipping costs and material waste. Russo’s home in the Klein Karoo only has two bedrooms and a large open-plan living and kitchen area. The fireplace keeps them warm during frigid desert nights, and the outside area is conducive to long hours of star-gazing or entertaining.
Completely off-grid, the home gets its water from a nearby spring, harvests rainwater, and recycles grey water to irrigate a small vegetable garden. Outside terraces and walls were built with materials found on-site.
Russo says living off the grid has been a transformative experience for his family.
“What was initially attractive to us has become so much more than not just being dependent or addicted to so much of what ‘the grid’ offered or trapped us into,” he said. “It has become about realizing what it also denied us, like the time to eat every meal together, to grow our own vegetables, to a whole weekend with visiting friends, to cook and to watch how miraculous and absolutely abundant nature really is.”
The interior design, according to Russo, represents a marriage between his wife’s bohemian style and his own clean minimalism. It was also important for them to create a warm environment that harmonizes with the hues of the surrounding fynbos. Pulsing with light, colorful in all the right places, and modestly sized, this spectacular home provides a quality of living that is hard to match.
Article by Tafline Laylin at inhabitat.com
Images source via inhabitat.com