The modern seaweed house

In times past, we built our homes using materials that were ready to hand, such as timber, slate, sandstone, wattle and daub. Or seaweed, if we lived on an island off the coast of Denmark.

For centuries trees were scarce on the island of Læsø, but seaweed has always been abundant on the beaches. Few of the original seaweed houses remain, so in an attempt to preserve and celebrate the old methods, the Modern Seaweed House has been built combining traditional materials with modern methods.

The seaweed for the new house was stuffed into netted bags and attached externally over timber frames, as well as being enclosed in wooden cases as insulation within the walls and floors.