The design shows what looks to be a traditional English garden at first glance. It’s certainly impressive, with monuments, perfect grass, and a little outdoor patio. But what this hides is a £2.4 million eco-friendly home in the town of Bowden in Manchester, England.
The designs were done for Perdu and show a circular home built underground with numerous eco-friendly features. It leaves room for many luxuries as well, including a water slide, pool, and gym within a three-bedroom home. While it is underground, the living spaces are spacious and impressive, with a dome in the center letting in natural light.
The crowning glory of this home though is its eco-friendly features. It contains a rainwater harvesting system and a heat exchange system. The listing for the home describes it as a home that “makes an extraordinary statement without the visual impact of an ordinary house.”
They also added that, “Hidden underneath a landscaped, classical English garden is a contemporary earth sheltered house. Being underground means that the house has a more stable environment, the temperature remains constant and the house is very quiet and peaceful.”
The house also adds green space, and the roof allows for planting to contribute to the local ecosystem.
The home is listed by architects NC Homes and Huntsmere, MyModernMet.com.
However, this is not the only instance of a green home. The trend is becoming more popular around the world, as more people learn about eco-friendly living.
Buying Energy Star appliances, updating a roof, or switching to a convection oven to cook 25% faster can all help reduce energy consumption. But architecture, rather than the individual amenities, seems to be driving the eco-friendly homes movement throughout the world.
The most recent showing of the popularity of green homes was the Boulder Green Home Tour in Colorado. Hundreds flocked to Boulder at the end of September to view homes with eco-friendly features.
“It’s our inaugural event,” said Juana Gómez, a principal with Lawrence and Gómez Architects and a member of the home tour’s steering committee. “Years ago it was a solar home tour. We wanted to expand it to include green sustainable living and construction.”
The tour will feature 11 homes, of different years and house types, with their eco-updates.
“Our purpose was to get a wide range of projects and budgets to show how every home can be green,” Gómez said.
