Healthy
construction.

It started in the Netherlands, in an association whose dean of construction at the Polytechnic published that high-voltage lines cause leukemia, and turpentine paints kill fish in the backyard pond.

For twenty years I was part of this association. We published the magazine Healthy Building and Living — uncensored, technical, uncompromising. We wrote that microwave ovens are not neutral. That rigid wool in walls is not insulation — it's a bag for dust and mold. That building materials have their toxicology, which no one in the Polish market wanted to know at the time.

We had the largest eco-building exhibition in the Netherlands. France started sending their officials there to learn. That's why today France builds the best ecological schools in Europe — not because it was first, but because the official staff was educated there twenty years ago.

What does "healthy home" mean?

A healthy home is a home that breathes. Walls made of hempcrete (hemp, lime, water) allow water vapor to pass through, regulate air humidity, filter dust. In winter they retain heat. In summer they retain coolness. For fifty years they require no intervention other than what an old cottage requires: a bit of respect and a fresh layer of lime from time to time.

“Twenty years ago we wrote about the toxicology of paints, today about the toxicology of indoor air. The problem hasn't changed. We just changed the scale."

A dome house adds geometry to this. A dome — spherical or geodesic — has the best surface-to-volume ratio of all possible forms. Less wall, more interior. Less heat loss, more comfort. Air in the dome circulates on its own — without fans, without air conditioning, without bills.

Plot analysis.

I don't start by drawing a house. I start with the plot. Every piece of land has its history — a battlefield where something exploded; a place where someone died; a high-voltage line invisible from underground; an old ancestral cemetery. These things are not ghosts — they are geology, chemistry, and biology that affect the health of residents for decades.

I do an analysis for clients before purchasing a plot or before designing. This is the only such service in Poland. People find me because someone told them: "Basia will check it." Sometimes I tell a client: "Don't buy this plot." This is also an architect's project — to know when to say no.

Plus-energy.

A good house doesn't consume energy. A good house produces energy — enough for the residents and a bit more for the neighbor. Photovoltaic panels, heat pump, recuperation, passive solar gains through large south-facing windows — these are tools. But the foundation is geometry and material. A dome made of hempcrete is already halfway there before we add anything from electricity.

Workshops.

Every year I conduct hands-on workshops. People come who want to build their own house, and people who just want to mix lime with hemp once in their life and see how it smells. These are my favorite three days of the year — the house is built from what people do with their hands, not from what architects draw in programs.

“Architecture without sleeves makes no sense. Until you feel lime on your hands, you won't understand why these walls are better."

I invite you to the studio. I invite you to the plot. I invite you to the workshop. I invite you to a conversation — even if you don't know yet if you want such a house, and you just want to ask.