Native Architects, York
01904 656133 |
01904 656133 |
This new low carbon hempcrete house was built for one of our clients in Holm a small village in the Orkney Islands. With majestic views of Scapa Flow, this is the first hempcrete house built on the Orkney mainland. It was constructed using a timber frame and the walls were formed using prefabricated hempcrete blocks wrapped in hempcrete which was cast on-site, providing the building with an entire thermal envelope.
Hempcrete provides a natural, vapour-permeable, and when rendered, airtight insulation material. It also has a great thermal mass, giving it a uniquely effective thermal performance and the ability to regulate relative humidity. Hempcrete buildings also provide healthy indoor environments and as it is a ‘better-than-zero-carbon material’, it locks away more atmospheric carbon during the buildings lifetime than is emitted during its construction. The contractors for the project, UK Hempcrete are specialists in the use of hempcrete or ‘hemp-lime’ and other natural building materials and work regularly with Native Architects on the construction of residential and commercial buildings.
Woodfibre boards, which are non-toxic and have low or negative embodied carbon were used for the ceilings, providing additional thermal insulation within the house.