Voxel Cabin grows food, reuses water, makes energy from waste

With the goal of building a cabin without relying on materials from the outside world, those at Valldaura Labs accessed their backyard forest and personal milling equipment (both traditional and CNC), as well as their knowledge of biogas energy and water capture systems.
With just 40 white pine trees selectively harvested from the surrounding Collserola forest, students, researchers and a few experts at IAAC built their “Voxel” cabin during a period of quarantine in the mountains above Barcelona.
After selecting the trees to cut to improve the health of the forest, the team used chainsaws to fell them and cut them in situ. They were then sent to carpentry to be planed and finally compressed into cross-laminated timber (CLT) which served as both structure and interior cladding. Offcuts of wood were shaped using parametric design tools to provide exterior cladding that maximizes shading and cooling.
These offcuts were burnt using the traditional Japanese method of Shou Sugi Ban, or Yakisugi, to preserve and protect the wood. The home was built without the use of metal screws - in an effort to remain as local as possible-, and instead by using a classic doweling technique to press the boards together with these wooden nails.
A voxel is a “pixel with volume”; this applies to the building itself with its stacked interlocking boxes that begin with a rooftop garden that filters and purifies rainwater (with plants that remove contaminants via phytofiltration) to be used inside the home. The tessellated construction continues inside the home with a stepped ceiling and stepped furniture ladder that leads up to the lofted bed. Even the furniture is modular and changeable; wooden dowels allow one to interchange furniture pieces and build up and interchange tables, chairs, clothes racks, and shelving.
Advanced Ecological Buildings: iaac.net/educational-programm...
Voxel Cabin: valldaura.net/ecohouse-v02-pr...
On *faircompanies: faircompanies.com/videos/voxe...

[@jonminchin]

To the students who spent their time designing and also building this structure in three months during a lock-down isolation period. Keep up the good ideas and never stop growing and making! Your work is wonderful.

[@filippovegezzi2898]

Thank you Jon!

[@camillegarnier9242]

Thank you Jon 💜

[@IronAlien]

what software is that? 16:08

[@AnnikaOrne]

Kirsten, I have been enjoying your videos for years. I LOVE how you always present each space at every possible angle, allowing the owner/designer to speak at length about the intent behind each decision. What an absolute joy. Can’t thank you enough for all the creative inspiration (and relaxation) I’ve drawn from your videos!! Love from Minnesota. ❄️

[@benmwoolley]

Cycled up there today to take a look for myself. Amazing little structure.

[@edithbudianto4195]

I just realized that I've been following your channel for a decade.😀 Thank you for all the wonderful videos. 😘

[@kirstendirksen]

Wow, thanks for sticking around.

[@meynardmowat1105]

Me too

[@dinnae]

Same here 😊

[@ohanajewelry456]

Same with me ! 😁

[@DaleKnudsen]

SAME. Your videos are so amazing. have taught me so much about homes and how others live their lives.

[@KleineJoop]

This house really does feel as natural and flexible as the nature, forests surrounding it. He managed to design that. It's art.

[@petemavus2948]

Fine Art

[@benbrown8258]

thank you for bringing us to that design school ecological think-tank once again. I would love to see what the graduates of this program I've done in their own lives. I absolutely love this house. You've been an inspiration. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's home design was affected by exposure to your Channel.

[@lb7068]

Can I have this place?!!😁 I promise to take very good care of it! I wish I had the means and know how to make something so sustainable and off grid, living in the modern world has truly killed the spirit of man. Think of what the world would look like if all the advancements in knowledge and intellect were put toward these types of things rather than destroying our creativity. Primitive meets innovation.....so cool!!

[@lisarussell6950]

I am enthused by the concepts, particularly the layerings of space on the exterior. While I respect the adaptability of the interior, as a partially mobile 72 year old, I could not do the climbing required to use the living areas. I'd love to see a potential adaptation to accommodate those limitations.

[@debbralehrman5957]

Thank you for bringing another example of people working to live sustainably.

[@devika2527]

What I’m impressed with is his voice. He can make anything sound majestic! Even a piece of plywood.

[@cool7654321]

His accent and vocabulary are A+ xD

[@ideoformsun5806]

He's walking on the table with his shoes on. I think the house should provide clean slippers for its guests.

[@benvoliothefirst]

When you're showering in recycled poo-water, who cares? Germs are good for you. ;)

[@jeffstumpf9129]

@@benvoliothefirst, black water does not get re-used in the shower. No one would consider that acceptable. It's a health issue. But, your term “poo-water” is funny, so you get a like for that.

[@dorothymarierecoverysuppor5013]

Loved this video. I have watched every video you have uploaded to this channel. What most impresses me is the experiences your children have had. There is no school that could teach you kids what you have provided them with through your family's travels. Very cool.

[@petemavus2948]

Agreed, expanding minds starts young, builds flexibility, muscles of all sorts, mental, physical, spiritual even. It can give you a wider appreciation of EVERYTHING and a more accepting nature of the diversity of ALL THAT IS.

[@SeanParries]

He's as interesting to hear speak as this treasure of place is to look at and admire. True ART!!

[@mrvento_za]

Agreed! I love his voice. Reminds me of Terence Stamp.

[@petemavus2948]

True Art! Challenges the status quo!

[@nxg1029]

I really appreciate the work that went into all the different camera angles that are swapped between while he is explaining the roof.

[@janetfayard672]

How incredible. Every home on the planet should be able to do these things! Of course aesthetics would differ, but the practical fuctions. Well done!💚🌍🌏🌎💚

[@johngrimble3050]

Concept is great! Flat or low pitch roofs are a nightmare to seal from water over time.

[@Oliver.Doliver]

Blurring the gap between furniture and structure. I like that.

[@nicolasboullosa]

Spot on.

[@luismadrigal-hidalgo]

My man just said, fuck it Minecraft IRL! And then did just that, mad respect.... Both from a proactive attitude and a design standpoint.

[@Sj1bby]

hihihihi, this guy is telling us: you can move stuff around as you wish. He procedes to devide and move the table, shortly after he places it back in the first position. He continues to devide the chair but he places it back in the same position. He continues to move the plank on the wall, he even places a lamp on it. Than he puts it all back in the original position... (I would do the exact same thing, but seeing someone else doing this makes me chuckle) As usual: the video is of quite an interesting build, a lot of stuff is well engineerd and well tought out! thanks for the great content Kirsten Dirksen.

[@victoriarawlings689]

You could even turn one of those pieces of dowel into a rod for a curtain for the toilet- seriously what is it with these architects! I bet they have nice sealed toilets in their own homes!😄 joking aside - this is a wonderful project.

[@luxdevoid]

Love how he re-invented plywood

[@RicoSofaKing]

You sold me on the dowels joining the seats. 😮😯🙀💯 Everything about this place is absolutely brilliant, thank you for sharing this

[@camdenwarber7684]

That girl using the jointer made me so nervous she wasn't running the piece along the fence so easy for it to move and her hands to go into the blade.

[@davidhaywood8029]

I think this has an over-the-top blade guard (i.e. not the more common pork-chop style), which has been folded back for some reason -- possibly for the camera? The worker also isn't pushing the workpiece down onto the outfeed table, which is a bit surprising. Maybe this is all just being staged for appearances on camera? (i.e. no fingers were ever at risk...)

[@woodchip2782]

Very unsafe practices. She should also have a push block, goggles (glasses are not enough) hearing protection and proper clothing attire. At her age I lost two finger tips to a jointer. After 40 years I still miss them.

[@facelessdrone]

@@woodchip2782 its staged for filming, obviously. They're not going through all the set up for a three second shot.

[@facelessdrone]

@@lbrowning2543 how? Dirt is dirt. You eat it all the time, the only concern is if you never clean your surfaces, dirt on the table doesn't harm your food or immune system at all.

[@MyFlaviao]

Amazing! I would love to study that master. Thank you again Kirsten and family

[@ChrisPage68]

Toilet door?

[@EEX97623]

This guy could sell fish and chips with mushy peas as "one of the world's optimal meals with subtle delicacies, tangetial textures, micro flavours amplified with traditional seasoning, and multi-purpose nutritional benefits."

[@78646666668]

Cool design but like the table and the place where the bed is sitting, it looks like it’s already bending.

[@duchesse7713]

It's a 1st prototype, built by a community and nothing is perfect. It is good to notice what need to be improved, but seriously, this house is genius!

[@vooveks]

@@duchesse7713 I think ‘genius’ might be pushing it. It would only be genius if there were virtually no problems with it, and there are plenty.

[@scorpio6587]

Flexibility can improve strength.

[@ajmentel2453]

@@vooveks it's absolutely genius, genius does not mean perfect but rather a profound new connection between bodies of knowledge and logic. genius has kinks that still need to be worked out, especially in the beginning. imagine this in 50 years where 3D/material printing/molding is far cheaper and the internet means communities and professionals will be far more connected than ever, even across the globe - and without the global consumerist system this is trying to fix everyone would have far more time on their hands to make things like this happen.

[@kattihatt]

@@ajmentel2453 what is genius about this house?

[@beautylovewisdom8032]

A wonderful exploration of the intersection of what nature has to offer and human innovation. The result is beauty in simplicity, complexity but not complicated.

[@katarahudarro9875]

Love it, love it, love it! These are the projects that give me hope for the future! 💛💛💛

[@madelonmarshall1726]

Fascinating...thank you!!!🤩

[@tinekejoldersma]

In continuation on the last time, you were here when they build it! Lovely to see that.

[@ahikernamedgq]

Kristen, you've got some sweet kicks. And, thanks for all the awesome content!

[@edem4135]

Showering in the winter would be interesting

[@herringtonfarms5927]

Great video and stunning home. Yeah his voice is easy on the ears. When I built my last venture, I contacted the University of Texas and used their 'tongue and grove' design to build a tornado safe room in my Inn. 10' walls with OSB stood vertically brick and mortar style was their design with a hogs trough to connect each wall layer to the ceiling layer. The pressure change within was deafening. OSB is a fiber board made from quick growing and sustainable varieties such as yellow pine and some populars and it is much stronger than regular plywood.

[@amandawilcox9638]

The like is for your video, Kirsten. I appreciate their design, & love the exterior. The interior seems too fluid & pieces too constantly converting for day to day couple or family's use.

[@MinkxSaab]

Amazing find Kirsten!

[@johankatzenberger1234]

Thanks for the great work, really inspiring!

[@ForeverMasterless]

Idk about this house but this dude should do voice acting or audiobook narration.

[@te71se]

@Mung Bean link pls? :P

[@mikeroadblock]

He really should.

[@mrvento_za]

Sounds like Terence Stamp.

[@F-J.]

I wish he has a lisp though 🙉

[@sheldonmurphy6031]

They way he speaks, sounds like he should be on Nat Geo, talking about how we are destroying our earth.

[@soundboydesign1373]

Canada here...bravo!

[@RadioNul]

No door on the toilet, lovely

[@scientifico]

Living alone I rarely shut my toilet door. I might do that today!

[@jeroberts7228]

The more I watched, the more intrigued I became - I was actually sorry to see the video end. :-)

[@Devibaba]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing!!

[@recklessroges]

This is one of my favourite houses on this channel. I wonder what it will be like when it has been a home for a few years. (And being clad in pine does make me think that it will need some imminent maintenance.)

[@MrEh5]

Some interesting design aspects. The walking on the table to access the bed needs to be changed.

[@khymaaren]

I'm sure something can be arranged by the time you are moving in.

[@facelessdrone]

No, it doesn't. You're just not used to it so you think its automatically bad

[@khymaaren]

@@Trastlol Not every idea is a good idea... for you. A bad decision for you might be the best for someone else. Especially, when it comes to something as subjective as the design of a living space.

[@WanderingNature]

Absolutely fantastic, I love this!!!

[@janebotten2969]

So inspiring!!!

[@JustFun-ze5pk]

Another amazing Kirsten Dirksen video!

[@tobiashildebrandt3426]

WahnSinn! Danke!

[@peterdecroos1654]

2 weeks of comfinement. def not the worst place to quarentine!

[@thesenate4815]

2 weeks over one year ago

[@HLR4th]

Thank you for the close-up of the window frame's mortis & tenon!

[@grodius]

jedi outcast!

[@AlexdaCunha]

Excellent ideas here. Very good project

[@corlisscrabtree3647]

Thank you

[@gregcale5388]

So there is no vapor barrier or protection for the cork insulation? I certainly have no experience with cork as a building material, but I would think it would need shelter from driving rain. Also, a 1x2 under panels is not a long-term solution to a step.

[@francoisp8644]

Juste efficient and beautifull because so simple tips. Bravo !.

[@michaeltillman886]

I really like the concept. Everything fits perfect. Great Idea!

[@fucksake893]

Congratulations to the camera crew for managing to capture this, with someone operating a camera visible in nearly every shot. 👏

[@christinecannizzo6974]

It’s innovative, especially from an environmental standpoint, but not comfortable. All hard surfaces except the mattress. I also wonder about protection from fire - it kind of looks like a tinderbox. I appreciate people who are doing projects like this because they are providing a path to the future. It’s just that comfort and safety have to be factored in, and I wonder how something like this could be scaled up for high density living in a city. Then we’d really have something.

[@sunspot42]

I wonder if the charred wood cladding is somewhat fire-resistant. The cork panels would definitely be fire-resistant, although the vegetation is too close to the house, which is probably the greatest fire risk. The gravel on the roof would be fire-resistant, so there’s that.

[@gregcale5388]

Charred cladding is relatively fire resistant, and it's worth noting that vinal siding is common in wall systems that cover cardboard structural elements, so it's not far worse than that.

[@clobberelladoesntreadcomme9920]

The idea behind this design ethos is to use what's locally available not necessarily to replicate this exact design on a city level. It's not scalable but the idea is replicable.

[@petemavus2948]

Provincial attitudes and drive by assessments are for comfort junkies and insular worlds.

[@petemavus2948]

There are no Home Depot's there lol

[@missglenellen]

Amazing, simply amazing!

[@stayoutofthecitys]

This is a really cool design. I love how it blends in with nature to .

[@complementarychaos]

great build.

[@mikeycbaby]

I love the kitchen faucet that becomes a shower 🚿

[@cool7654321]

I looooove how the outside looks.

[@conrad13579]

Marvelous Design!

[@polok890]

Never build on a hillside, because the building will shift downhill. The post foundation means this is a temporary building

[@polok890]

I hope they burned the posts that are in the ground. The exposed wood under the house needs to treated with a natural preservative and insecticide like linseed oil and vinegar. The combination of the building trying to side downhill and the foundation posts rotting, they ll be lucky to get 10 years out of this building

[@facelessdrone]

Constraining human ideas to a few arbitrary rules hinders progress, people build on hillsides all the time. Permanent does not equal good, things need to be rebuilt with time.

[@victor11rus38]

The site is amazing.

[@lisahodges8299]

Lovely starting point, fab quirky guy. Not sure that I would like to use the table to eat from. Love this channel. Birdy

[@urflofit2010]

The table is bending in the middle with his weight-don't step in anything before you come in and step on the table!

[@LaineyBug2020]

I would definitely shore it up a bit more underneath, but also have a piece of artwork made of varnished wood or something like that to fit over it as a table top when it's time to eat. Maybe a couple of those floor sofa/chair cushions on the window corner side for lounging the rest of the time & they can be quickly stashed underneath for meals. Would also double as a second sleeping place that way!

[@jonathandalton2921]

well , table cloths exist....

[@InvertedToad]

More information on how the roof functions is welcome, overall an interesting concept.

[@damama4209]

Fascinating and well designed. This would have been fun to design and build. Wish I would have thought of a structure with similar functions decades ago while learning architecture in College. Very clever

[@tommydotson2306]

ahhhhhhhh he's phenomenal!!

[@mioncmo5825]

This is lovely

[@MilesRoseProductions]

I like that he has managed to eliminate the need for stairs / ladder to get to the sleep loft. But I don't know how I feel about walking on the dinner table (for sanitation reasons)

[@mvblitzyo]

amazing how technology can help with preservation .. really enjoy your life journey ..

[@jjca_travel]

Awesome content, as always 💛

[@johannedufort5900]

Dynamic structures !!!

[@steventanner1428]

Cross laminate, a new name for plywood. Somebody need to study wood joinery.

[@BrightEyes8513]

Such a cool design. So many good ideas in a perfectly small space

[@Whydoibother943]

Nice place!

[@user-wf7tl7er7f]

木制结构有一种独特的自然的香味。我喜欢。

[@Nuru_77]

Bravo, all around !

[@elleh3495]

I think I would have put a chaise lounge on the roof. that view! this house is very interesting in many ways.

[@hm.91182]

Oh boy I can imagine termites having fun with this one

[@hihuman1559]

Beautiful

[@DeuceGenius]

that place is beautiful.

[@buildingstore8714]

wow what a beautiful place ,this videos make me good feeling .

[@princeedmunddukeofedinburg]

Very interesting, I like the way he talks.

[@Kaisersozze]

Outside looks cool. I wish the inside look a bit more precise in terms of craftsmanship.

[@aletheiai]

Has he noticed that the desk is already sagging?

[@nicolasboullosa]

This comment made me realize CLT is not as known as I thought. CLT isn't your typical plywood. You can sit a truck on that desk before it starts sagging.

[@aletheiai]

@@nicolasboullosa I know the claims about CLT. As to sagging: take a look at the video. An angle brace (correct term?) between the wall and the central beam would presumably help. EDIT - not the correct term -- I was thinking of an angled wooden strut (I'm not a carpenter).

[@nicolasboullosa]

@@aletheiai I was at the cabin, and on top of that table for that matter. It wasn’t sagging at all.

[@aletheiai]

@@nicolasboullosa Optical illusion, then?

[@nicolasboullosa]

@@aletheiai I can't answer that. It's your perception. All I could do is confirming it's CLT and the build was sturdy since I was there and I stayed on top of it. Yet you seem to know better than me. It's a phenomenon of our times: first-hand experience and one's word don't seem to hold any value to some.

[@DrJamesT]

Everytime I see these wooden homes i can't help but think about fire accidents

[@radoslavbogdanovic]

by the sheer amount of wood, it look like a matchbox

[@Arrge]

absolutely magnificent

[@therockbrigade]

I like the concept

[@peternicholson4467]

Amazing!

[@godblessyou9743]

If I took a shot everytime he said geography I'd need to have my stomach pumped

[@SolzeyeJewels]

I LOVE THIS!

[@aaronparys1750]

WOW Amazing house ... they thought of everything!! ...well done !! ..Can't wait to see what other experimental housing ideas these guys come up with!!..They should do a KZbin series on this place?

[@inventorindoarchitect]

amazing wall materials

[@freddycazares4190]

NEW SUBSCRIBER LOVE THE CHANNEL THANK YOU FOR BEING A GREAT BLESSING WITH THE GREAT KNOWLEDGE AND LOVE STAY BLESSED

[@dantheman9135]

Well done

[@austreneland]

We did a voxel project at Tulane A weekend in 2014-it was out of 1000 cubic foot boxes, but the most fun part was playing with them and building all sorts of things the first night once we had put them together

[@sometea4741]

Yes, OK, clever full circle design.

[@lydiarowe491]

Alternative is no longer a stranger to our places for living..a scientific approach to give strength and independent power...thanks for this one..an attractive space..⭐