Hemp House
Architect: Ljubica Arsić, Bach Mühle Fuchs
Location: Bela Reka, Serbia
Type: House
Year: 2022
Photographs: Marko Milovanovic, Ljubica Arsić, Daniel Fuchs
The following description is courtesy of the architects. In the beginning there was a vision of a house made of renewable raw materials in the Homolje Mountains. The task confronted us with various questions: How can we think of a holiday home in the periphery that justifies the destruction of an intact landscape inherent in building? How do we build in a foreign context, with simple craftsmanship and local resources?
The result is a house that stands in relation to its surroundings. Instead of imitating the landscape, the house is conceived as a man-made artifact. As an autonomous object, it hovers above the hill and is oriented towards the highest elevation on the horizon. On the other hand, this house is made of “nature”. The walls are made of hemp lime, the load-bearing structure of wood.
The bio-composite material and the square timbers condition the design. To increase the span, the timbers were joined into trusses. The varying heights of the beams form the roof, the varying distances between the columns form the corner points of the bracing, angular walls. The house was developed from the context, but at least as much from the construction.
The combination of ecological building materials, simple construction methods and partial self-construction makes of the project a personal research for sustainable architecture. The house draws its strength from being a sign of change, paradoxically shaped by a traditional building method. With its low-tech approach, it shows an alternative way of building that is more climate-friendly.
[1] Hemp lime is a composite material consisting of hemp hurds mixed with water and lime as a binder. The material is fireproof, durable, pest-resistant, and a good insulator, but not load-bearing. Hemp lime is basically CO2-negative. If no cement-based but hydraulic or pozzolanic binders are used. CO2 incorporation takes place through the organic storage of CO2 in the hemp plant and through carbonation.
Project Details
- Project Name: Hemp House
- Address: Bela Reka, Selo Bliznak, 12316 Žagubica, Homolje Mountains, Serbia
- Client: Bela Reka Farmland
- Architecture: Ljubica Arsić & Bach Mühle Fuchs, Belgrade & Zürich
- Project Leaders: Ljubica Arsić & Daniel Fuchs
- Collaborator: Aleksandar Simonović, Belgrade
- Initiator: Predrag Milosavljević, Tivat
- Structural Engineer: Vladimir Pesić, Belgrade
- Program: Holiday house, 4.5 Rooms, 228m2
- Design: 2016
- Realisation: 2017-2021
- Photos: Marko Milovanovic, Ljubica Arsić, Daniel Fuchs
