Green Architecture

Finally, green architecture is appreciated at its true value as a green home designed by Sarah Featherstone was sold for a record price of £7.2million the equivalent of $14.2 million. The structure is called Orchid House and it’s a part of the Lower Mill Estate, the project that has the purpose of turning a swamp into a 450 acres natural reserve.
Orchid House is one of the key homes on Lower Mill Estate which is a project to turn a disused gravel pit into a beautiful nature reserve.
The building aims to generate more energy than it consumes, by making use of geothermal heating. The house it is very flexible so can be adapted to any occasion: a family holiday or a large reception.
The Orchid House will generate more energy than it needs thanks to geothermal heating, and it should subsidize a cost of property of about £3,000 per square foot. The design of the house was inspired by the flora and the fauna of the landscape area, but I have to say that the Orchid is not entirely green as it’s based on laminated veneer lumber which uses adhesives to keep the wood layers together.
The house will blend with its landscape and environment. The organic form is created from laminated veneer lumbar (LVL) ribs and clad with timber shingles (tiles). The camouflage pattern is burnt to the timber.
The house offers flexible living spaces, adopting a layout which we have pioneered in our house designs. The kitchen is at the heart of the house with the living and dining wings fanning out to create an intimate open courtyard around which the house orientates. It is like a 'whorl' of leaves encircling the seed of the flower.
Brad Pitt and Kylie Minogue expressed an interest so far buying this house but the buyer remains anonymous.

We may have to wait until 2011 to find out who he is, when the house will be completed. Sarah Featherstone’s modern green house was sold for a record-breaking £7.2million, or $14.2million USD!