The Kfarhouné Ecolodge project represents a commitment to sustainable and context-driven design.

Awarded the Bronze Prize at the Holcim Awards, the project integrates passive environmental strategies, local materials, and a minimal footprint approach. Architecture emerges from the landscape, creating a seamless relationship between built and natural environments.

The project reflects a balance between ecological sensitivity and architectural expression.

Project summary

Located in the outskirts of Kfar Houneh, a small village in Lebanon, the ecolodge
promotes sustainability, responsible tourism, and historic preservation. The lodge
is built with eco-friendly materials and techniques, utilizing locally-sourced natural
materials where possible. Renewable energy is generated through solar panels
and wind turbines, minimizing the impact on the environment and creating a selfsufficient
energy system. A greywater system and composting toilets reduce
water waste and recycle organic matter, reducing the lodge’s environmental
footprint. The ecolodge boasts birds friendly façade designed to create a safe a
welcoming environment for our feathered friends. Guests can enjoy hiking trails
that meander through the surrounding forests, mountains, and valleys with
educational signage that explains the importance of the biodiversity in the region.
The ecolodge integrates old ruins of buildings affected by the Lebanese civil war,
reviving them and connecting them through a web of hiking trails, retelling past
events through the mind of tourists. This approach provides an immersive
experience for guests while maintaining the cultural identity of the area. The
ecolodge in Kfar Houneh is a sustainable development that supports the local
economy, preserves the environment, and celebrates the region’s cultural heritage

Uplifting places

The proposed project is located in a rural environment heavily populated in local
flora with high biodiversity rates. The eco-lodge will leverage the existing
landscape to perfectly blend modern architecture, traditional building aesthetics
and standards, as well as the endemic floral cover, ensuring seamless integration
and adaptability of the constructed assets. Moreover, the project will leverage the
presence of a rustic water mill in the proximity, as a both a touristic landmark, and
the basis upon which the patrimonial profile of the area is respected.

Healthy planet

The proposed project envisions environmental protection at the core of its design.
This is prevalent in the usage of alternative solar energy as a power source to offset
fossil fuels usage. In addition, the project comprises both a rain-water catchment
infrastructure, and grey / waste-water treatment system to reduce both water
consumption and wastewater generation rates. Moreover, with the
implementation of a solid-waste management plan, both wastes’ generation and
landfilling frequencies will be reduced. Ultimately, with proper environmental
safeguarding practices in place, the proposed project will also reduce instances of
pathology.

Thriving communities
Through the operation of the rural agro-food processing center, as well as kiosks
disseminated within the project site, locals are able to both produce as well as sell
rural products to tourists and guests. Furthermore, out of work youths within the
Kfarhouneh village will be exposed to new long-term or part-time work
opportunities in the operation and management of the site. Moreover, the
increased flux of tourists will directly impact the economic profile of the village.
Ultimately, this will allow for an increase in decent and sustainable revenue for
affected vulnerable populations, in light of the current national crises.

Viable economics

The proposed project caters at its core to the minimization of resources used. The
design abides by both best value for money, as well as the prioritization of
reusable, recycled, or upcycled materials for its construction, promoting a circular
economy approach within the construction value chain. Care will be given to
select locally sourced materials, to boost local economic growth and reduce
import dependency. Furthermore, within the operation of the project, a strong
solid wastes management framework and infrastructure will be set in place to
valorize organics as compost, and sell recyclables for local entities, ultimately
decreasing the wastes’ generation rate within the project.