Holistic, sustainable design is good stuff. The design team at California based, Symbios, builds and designs homes and structures that connect and integrate nature and natural systems into their creative approach (see their Salmon Creek School project pictured above). The company specializes in: green roof design and implementation, green kitchens, handcrafted windows featuring reclaimed glass, and green building design and construction. Here’s a look at some of their projects:
Wings of Earth House – Sonoma County, CA
The many benefits of a green roof include:
- the creation of a living, roof-born eco-system – a home for bees, insects and other small creatures, erosion protection
- a buffer for storm runoff
- an insulating layer to increase the heating and cooling performance of a structure and the
- creation of a green space that improves a building’s landscape integration and increases our connection with nature.
When in bloom, the green roof of this 3300 square foot home resembles a colorful fall mountainside. The roof’s planting scheme was designed to resemble the patterns seen on the wings of butterflies. The roof features eleven species of plants (9 sp. of Sedums, plus Dianthus and Phlox) arranged according to shape, texture, size and color to achieve maximum visual impact.
The residence, designed by Symbios, features exterior straw bale walls, lime plaster, passive solar design, P.V. solar electrical power, solar hot water, radiant in-floor heating, light shelves for day lighting, energy efficient lighting and appliances and several thermal-mass interior walls made from the earth (sub-soils) obtained from the excavation of the building site.
The Keating Residence
This hillside residence (pictured above) features reclaimed lumber, passive solar energy and cotton insulation and lots of windows.
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