It may look odd, but enveloping an entire home within a glass greenhouse is a great way to make it more hospitable in punishing winter weather. We’ve seen this concept work brilliantly in Stockholm, where a pre-existing home was simply shielded by a structure made of four-millimeter security glass, and all the way up in the Arctic Circle in Norway. For the latter, a family built their own three-story cob home within a glass geodesic dome, allowing them to grow fruit trees, grapes, herbs, tomatoes, and squash well outside the brief summer growing season.
But what if you don’t want to go quite so far as literally living inside a bubble" A stylish new home by architecture studio Richard David Architekti offers a slightly less extreme take, topping a single-story modern residence with a second-story greenhouse in the shape of a normal gabled roof.
“House with a Greenhouse” is set within an orchard in the town of Chlum, Czech Republic. Each level of the home is conceived as its own distinct structure, creating a clear separation between the timber-clad living space and the greenhouse full of plants. The latter takes advantage of the warmth created by the home, stays warm enough to grow cacti year-round, and allows the residents 360-degree views of their property. Enjoying a typical European continental climate, the Czech Republic may not get quite as cold as the Arctic Circle, but it’s not uncommon for temperatures to dip into the 20s (Fahren...