Staying warm in countries like Sweden, where it is cold for long periods of time can rack up quite a long heating bill. Furthermore, it is powered by oil or coal and is certainly not green for the environment. A Swedish couple living in Stockholm came up with a brilliant idea to cut down on the electricity bills.
Marie Granmar and Charles Sacilotto came up with an ingenious plan to cut down on the heating bills by making a structure that was not only groundbreaking but beautiful.
Stockholm, like most parts of Sweden, is a cold place most of the year.
The interior of their house looks very much like a normal house but their house is not a normal house.
What makes their house different is that they have surrounded their home with a huge greenhouse. This provides an ideal climate for growing plants.
It also keeps the home warm enough that the Swedish couple does not have to dish out dough on heating methods.
This unique home was known as the “naturhus” or “nature house”. It stayed warm all year round and heating bills were not to be worried about.
Charles came up with this idea with his architect friend, Bengt Warne. The architect originated this concept in 1974 and had already helped a dozen of people by making similar houses.
Following the design, the house was covered by 4mm thick glass.
As the house did not come in contact with rain and snow, the untreated wood looked fresh all through the year.
They were also able to grow their own food without having to step out of the house.
They ate organic food, free of pesticides. They also saved quite a bit on the groceries as well.
“It’s not just to use the nature, the sun and the water,” Charles explained.“It’s all a philosophy of life. To live in another world, in fact.”
Bengt agreed: “Living in a greenhouse gives architecture a fourth dimension, where time is represented by movements of naturally recycled endless flows of growth, sun, rain, wind, and soil in plants, energy, air, water, and earth.”
It is no doubt a very beautiful house and the Swedish couple is very happy living there. You can check it out in the video below: