Een Til Een Builds the World’s First Biological House

Danish architecture firm Een Til Een has developed the world’s first Biological House using bio-based materials and digital manufacturing technology. Completed in November, the Biological House is located at the Biotope Eco-Park in Middelfart, Denmark. Featuring unconventional construction materials such as tomato stems, soybeans, seaweed, flax, and straw, the house highlights the possibilities of building habitable structures out of alternative materials. As a common practice among farmers, these byproducts are often burnt to produce energy, but burning them causes air pollution and results in irreversible environmental impact on both human health and the ecosystem.

The 1,560-square-foot Biological House is powered by solar panels that generate energy—the excess of which is saved in saltwater battery storage (a nonflammable and nontoxic battery that uses saline solution as electrolyte). Built atop a steel screw pile foundation, the Biological House’s exterior is clad in wood treated with Norwegian hardwood producer Kebony‘s proprietary bio-based liquid, which increases its durability, according to the company.

“It’s been a long project, and we have all certainly learned a great deal over the course of planning and construction,” said Een Til Een CEO Kim Christofte in a press release by Kebony. “It has been a pleasure to watch the team find so many clever solutions to the problems encountered along the way and we are delighted to finally open the doors to share this unique house with the public.”

The house is supported by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.