proyectos

K-House

Ontario

K-House is a single-family home in Hamilton (Ontario, Canada) that demonstrates the viability of prefabricated straw in a contemporary style. Designed by architect Nicolas Koff, of the Toronto studio Office Ou, and built with Evolve Builders for a couple of doctors, it was completed in 2015. The house is organised into two volumes: one of two storeys with a pitched roof and white render, and another single-storey volume clad in charred cedar (shou sugi ban). Its walls are prefabricated straw bale panels around 40 cm thick, with a load-bearing timber frame, magnesium oxide boards, a ventilated drainage cavity and breathable render, giving a building envelope with a thermal resistance of around R-40. Cross ventilation and high-efficiency chimneys reduce the demand for climate control, and 36 solar panels on the metal roof offset the home's electricity consumption, making it Hamilton's first net-zero-electricity straw house.