Sweden’s first round Passive House boasts an innovative solar-powered balcony

No surface is off limits to solar. Villa Circuitus - Sweden's very first round Passive House - generates its own energy with a solar-powered balcony.

Working with Nina Sandahl at SAJT Arkitekstudio, Simone Kreutzer and Tommy Wesslund designed the home to be self-sufficient almost all year, despite the site's northerly location and grey winters. Combining smart passive design, the solar balcony, which is wrapped around the second story, and other technology, the designers produced a swoon-worthy home with stable temperatures year-round.

Clad in sustainable Kebony and orange panels, Villa Circuitus exudes a warm ambience that belies its smart design. Its round shape minimizes the surfaces exposed to the outside air, which, combined with high-performance custom windows that retain twice as much heat as standards windows, helps to minimize heat loss. As a result, less energy is required to keep the home warm in winter. Interior air temperatures are also kept stable with a heat exchanger that circulates air in a two-phase process – first through a ground-based water heater and then a post-heater.

The 1,880 square foot home includes four bedrooms and an open plan kitchen and dining room – all with the kind of exceptional interior detailing for which the Swedes are so famous. It is bright and colorful, but clean, open and airy. The exterior Kebony cladding will weather over time, and – thanks to its unique composition – help protect the house from the elements.

“We have a passion for making sustainable homes and so we needed to ensure that every element of the house was responsibly sourced,” said Simone Kreutzer. “The solar-paneled railing, the recycled insulation and the striking Kebony cladding all help to realize our vision of a truly sustainable eco-home.”