Hemp House

We were looking for our place, a living space suitable for children and with children, that was available for us. In the city, in nature, close to waters, forests, mountains. Outside the capital, but close to it. Our choice fell on Szentendre. In the city center, close to the local train, close to the stream, to the Danube, close to the school, close to culture, close to everything. On a small plot. Our house found its place within an established, dense and irregular urban fabric, inside an abandoned block, reclaimed by plants, surrounded by houses, in a seemingly impossible situation.

We designed it according to our needs and possibilities, planned with a low budget. A proportionate and simple family living tailored individually, on a small floor area, without unnecessary spaces, without passages, organized with two ladders, in a symbiosis with the garden. Due to its special situation, it opens fully towards the garden areas, while remaining closed along the property boundaries. Arriving directly in the garden, the living area lacks an entrance hall, placed directly at the level of the garden, and except for the bathroom all these form one single space. It is tuned in to the connection of the inside and the garden, subtly divided with wooden stairs. The rooms—due to the built environment―are in the attic, and because of the small span, in full depth, without any passages. Four rooms and two stairs. The children’s rooms are with a row of windows running all along the wall, functioning as a studio, for playing, creating, dancing, studying and, of course, sleeping.

Flowing spaces surrounded by raw, natural materials, bordered by walls and roofs made of hemp, using as little wood as possible, the wooden furniture is made by us to create a real home. A reinforced concrete and wooden structural frame filled with hemp concrete, homogenous use of materials, almost the same layer structure on the walls and on the roof, without internal vapor barrier in the attic. Its ecological importance is great. Besides its good thermal insulation abilities, the carbon dioxide emissions during the production are minimal, and thanks to the hemp, it even absorbs carbon dioxide. The structure breathes, its lime content cleans the air. It is finished with a fine-grained lime plaster without paint, soaped in wet rooms and the kitchen. The doors are made of pine and Accoya wood. The low quality of walls and furniture made of third-rate Elliotis pine plywood is compensated with their intense pattern and the unique frame structure carefully constructed of pine slats by us.