The team (Estes Twombly + Titrington Architects) used a hemp lime system developed in France for thermal mass. Hempcrete or hemplime is biocomposite mixture of hemp hurds (shives, lime, sand) and according to the owner…
“this is the first cedar shingled hemplime house on the planet with some other notable innovations including a convertible closed-to-open deep foundation; a hybrid air-based / hydronic heating and cooling system; a geothermal system; a photovoltaic power generation system; and locally sourced materials with lower embodied carbon just to name a few.”
And there is no sheathing! No plywood so we developed wood braced frames. We also designed the foundation for wave loads (Cape Cod oceanfront) in the next 100 years with CMU walls that can be removed prior to a storm (or breakaway freely during the storm without damaging the house) which makes it capable of converting from a closed foundation into an open one, predicting a future FEMA code 50+ years from now.
This innovative project adds to our growing list including …
2020 We designed this first hemp lime house in MA with the first convertible foundation on the planet
2017 We designed the 4th Certified Living Building building in MA (the most rigorous building standard in the world, makes this the 23rd certified Living Building in the world)
2015 We designed the first Passive House in RI
