This project by Espacio Colectivo Arquitectos in Colombia offers a new residential and agrarian model for farmers living at high altitude in the mountains near Bogota. The combined residence and greenhouse proposes an affordable and modular housing solution that enhances farming conditions, reducing the economic pressure to migrate to urban centres.

Project description by jury

By reinterpreting Colombian vernacular pitched roof structures, this design proposal suggests a residence for farmers living at high altitudes above 3000m above sea level that combines housing and agriculture by optimizing space and material selections. The building consists of two parts: an inner wooden volume that constitutes the main habitable area, and an additional translucent shell that functions as a second skin for the house while creating a contiguous greenhouse. The polycarbonate envelope not only enhances the thermal performance of the house but also enables a variety of produce to be grown despite the low temperatures of the region. The prototype is conceived as a flexible object that can be realized in different sizes depending on the needs of its occupants. Thanks to the electricity supply coming from a solar farm, the building is energy self-sufficient. Organic waste is used as a nutrient-rich compost fertilizer, rainwater is collected, and greywater is reused. 

As a Main category prize winner in the regional Holcim Awards 2020, Vernacular Greenhouse in Colombia automatically qualified as a finalist in the Global Holcim Awards 2021.

View Global Holcim Awards Entry – Vernacular Greenhouse in Colombia

The built environment has a significant role to play in addressing climate change and enabling the transition to a net-zero and more inclusive future. The Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction global winners showcase the cutting edge of approaches to sustainable design, green architecture, and materials innovation. The 6th cycle of the competition saw a double-prizewinning entry in Latin America: A project in Colombia won the Global Holcim Awards Silver as well as Gold at the regional level. The global prizes were presented at a handover ceremony at the International Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy. The regional Holcim Awards Main category winners for Latin America were recognized at the same event.

Sustainable productive habitat

Food: The construction of an orchard greenhouse that produces, regulating the temperature, the necessary food for a peasant family, using organic waste as compost for fertilizer. That’s how the cycle of productive food life is renewed and has no negative impact on the environment.

Energetic: The installation of a solar farm for the generation of energy supply. We believe it is necessary to promote energy self-production in communities that are far from the interconnected electricity network.

Productive: A flexible interior space, with progressive growth on the second level, which will allow the efficient construction of two rooms for tourists looking to live the experience of the rural habitat.

The efficiency search in construction processes, with the aim of reducing the impact of construction on the natural environment, leads to minimizing construction actions on the ground. Vernacular Greenhouse (Greenhouse Prototype) is essentially prefabricated, its processes are assembly, not construction. Being a roof house, and being this element that is prefabricated, the amount of waste and the impact on the land tends to be less than almost 80%. The interior walls of elementary construction, dry, are adaptable to any material. The passive bioclimatic strategies, heat the house by the effect of terraced greenhouse, avoiding radiant barriers, insulating by thermal inertia, and conserving heat by compartmentalization and materiality.