Home tour: be wowed by this glass eco-home in the Arctic circle

(Image credit: Future)

published 5 September 2020

For those of us trying to live more sustainably this eco home could represent the ultimate goal. Sure, you might have bought yourself a few Keep Cups, cut the single use plastic and even stretched to a plant-based diet, but few take it to the levels that Benjamin and Ingrid Hjertefolger have. They have hand built (yes, by hand) an eco dome made entirely from natural materials.

Intrigued? Well you can take a tour of this lovely home, just watch the video below and get inspired. The glass dome is actually in the Arctic circle, on Sandhorney Island in north Norway so has been built to withstand all kinds of weather too. The glass structure is made up of 360 glass panels, and can take the weight of all the snow that falls in an Arctic winter. It also protects the plants and trees that the family use for food and gives them a longer and warmer growing season.

The home itself is set within the glass dome and the walls are made entirely of a mix of sand, clay and straw and the stairs and beams are all timber. Ingrid wanted the inside of the home to be filled with organic shapes and you can see that clearly in the curving walls, and open plan living space. The décor is gorgeous too, and fits perfectly with the style of the house – definitely some boho interior inspiration here.

Watch the video below to take a tour and for loads more inspiring spaces, head over to our completed projects hub page.

Living off grid

One of the biggest steps you can take to reducing your carbon footprint is living off grid where you have complete control over your energy production and consumption. For some, living off-grid just means not being connected to mains power, gas or sewage works and could be the result of building on a site where the cost of connecting would be prohibitive.

However, for those interested in sustainability, the challenge of living off grid means the perfect opportunity to live entirely off renewable power. They generate what they need using solar energy, geothermal energy from the ground or wind and water power. Benjamin and Ingrid also have a water treatment system where they reuse all the water they wash in. This is cleaned and then waters the plants in their garden. As a result, their net impact on the planet is much reduced.

Hebe joined the Real Homes team in early 2018 as Staff Writer before moving to the Livingetc team in 2021 where she took on a role as Digital Editor. She loves boho and 70's style and is a big fan of Instagram as a source of interiors inspiration. When she isn't writing about interiors, she is renovating her own spaces – be it wallpapering a hallway, painting kitchen cupboards or converting a van.