Vollebak Island: Outrageous Gear Brand to Auction Lavish, Off-Grid Eco-Compound

Vollebak, the outdoor gear brand for well-to-do, end-times gear fanatics, is at it again. This time the company collaborated with architect Bjarke Ingels to create “one of the world’s most futuristic and imaginative concepts,” according to a press release.

The concept in question? A small island off the coast of Halifax is expected to fetch up to $10 million when it goes to auction early next month.

Assuming you’ve got the dough, purchasing Vollebak Island gets you access to a range of late-stage-capitalist amenities: a 2,000-square-foot house with a Japanese-style soaking room, a stargazing and meditation room, and a 20-foot indoor Viking-style fire pit for “eating and relaxing around” — as one does.

The buildings on Vollebak Island (including a boat house, a greenhouse, and a detached two-room, two-bath “annex”) are constructed of wood, stone, hemp, seaweed, and other natural materials, a nod toward the island’s sea-swept setting.

A combination of geothermal, solar, and wind energy powers the spread.

Bushes and grass on the roofs? Naturally. The whole thing gives a “what Bilbo might have done with his share of Smaug’s treasure” vibe, assuming that heroic hobbit was interested in fancier digs than Bag End.

Another unique feature — each “room” in the house is a separate building.

“For Vollebak Island, we have imagined the rooms as a manmade mount of individual volumes rising out of the ground,” Ingels shared in the press release.

Does that mean you might get drenched if it’s raining and you’d like to travel from your kitchen to your bedroom? Hard to say from the photos, but if the answer is yes, at least you’ll be getting wet futuristically.

“With Vollebak Island, we wanted to provide people with a glimpse of the future — a vision for how we might one day live on our planet — but one that can be built in real life today. As we head into an uncertain world of climate change, space colonization and resource scarcity, Vollebak Island imagines a truly sustainable future here on Earth, where architecture, design and materiality all work hand in hand with the natural world, not against it. It’s the home of the future as a fully living, breathing ecosystem,” Nick Tidball, Vollebak co-founder, said in the press release.

If you’d like to participate in Vollebak’s vision of a sustainable future, call your accountant and let her know you might need 10 million bucks by June 8, which is when bidding begins. The auction will be hosted at Sotheby’s New York through June 14.

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