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Abstract The continuous emanation of $$^{222}\hbox {Rn}$$ 222 Rn from detector surfaces causes the dominant background in current liquid xenon time projection chambers (TPCs) searching for dark matter. A significant reduction is required for the next generation of detectors which are aiming to reach the neutrino floor, such as DARWIN. $$^{222}\hbox {Rn}$$ 222 Rn -induced backgrounds can be reduced using a hermetic TPC, in which the sensitive target volume is mechanically separated from the rest of the detector containing the majority of Rn-emanating surfaces. We present a hermetic TPC that mainly follows the well-established design of leading xenon TPCs and has been operated successfully over a period of several weeks. By scaling up the results achieved to the DARWIN-scale, we show that the hermetic TPC concept can reduce the $$^{222}\hbox {Rn}$$ 222 Rn concentration to the required level, even with imperfect separation of the volumes.