The house at the centre of the island will be a 597-square-metre home called Earth House, consisting of nine connected buildings surrounding a central courtyard. The living block will be made entirely from thatch, while its four bedrooms will be fire-retardant hempcrete. A boathouse will be insulated with seaweed and a star-gazing room will be built from polished concrete. Also connected to the home will be a greenhouse made entirely of glass brick and used to grow food for the island’s residents, as well as a Japanese-style bathhouse containing tubs cut from the island’s bedrock.

In addition to the main residence, an eight-metre-high, triangular two-bedroom guest house on the eastern shore, called Wood House, will be built from wood from the island. The houses will be powered by a combination of geothermal energy, offshore wind and solar power, while residents can grow food to become self-sufficient.

Ingels and Vollebak designed the house for Leader...