Earth Fold: Off-the-grid passive house designed for a Catskill Mountain site in Upstate New York

Earth Fold is an off-the-grid passive-house in Upstate NY designed for a private client who was inspired by 70s Earthship Houses in Nevada, which were built by early pioneers of the green movement in USA. The building area is 2800 sf, completely submerged in the back yet spacious and bright at the front with expansive landscape views. There is a second-floor attic tucked under the green roof which blends with the surrounding landscape. Earth Fold is the future of single-family housing for the conscientious.

The shell is cast in concrete with a triangular steel framed deck supporting the green roof which houses the attic.  There is a top terrace which opens to the landscape along with two semi-buried terraces for front bedrooms. The super-insulation in the thick back walls, an air-tight membrane and triple-glazed windows enable the passive-house technology saluting the early pioneers of Earth Ship builders. Thank you, guys.

Design principal

Selim Vural, AIA

Project team

Rima Askin

Dom Wipas

Year

2019

Phase

Schematic Design