Grass Roof House Iceland

They are not only a beautiful feature for a house.

Grass roof house iceland.

The turf would then be fitted around the frame in blocks often with a second layer or in the more fashionable herringbone pattern. A traditional turf roof blankets a wooden house in iceland. The top layer of the earth is used which is soil that is bound together by grass and plant roots. Icelandic turf houses long before environmentally friendly construction became popular people in iceland were constructing turfhouses.

And the turf house tradition of iceland was nominated for unesco world heritage status in 2011. Bustarfell turf house in east iceland. It has then adapted to the harsh icelandic climate providing superior insulation. The turf house is an exceptional.

But there is a reason why scandinavians like these green roofs so much. Scandinavians are serious about their green roofs. They even have a competition every year to determine the best green roof project in scandinavia by the scandinavian green roof association. The hall skáli of the turf houses is believed to be the oldest turf house hall in iceland.

The first icelandic turf houses generally had a foundation made of flat stones whereupon a wooden frame was built which had to hold the weight of the turf. In fact earth sheltered dwellings have been in use since at least the iron age. A turf house is a house build with earth with a roof that consists of turf and grass. Turf roof of a house in glaumbær iceland the common icelandic turf house would have a large foundation made of flat stones.

They ve had them for a while now and it doesn t look like they re going anywhere. The romans built with turf grass to create fortresses in the northern parts of their empire. Icelandic turf houses belong to a tradition that was introduced by the vikings in the 9 th century. Bustarfell is a huge turf house and consists of 17 houses but each gable and outhouse counts as one unit.

Seen today turf houses are green cloaked homes with grass on the roofs that are laid into the natural landscape.