A Perfect Desert Home: Adobe Domes
Making Beautiful Homes for Less
Less time, less money, less headaches
Did you ever imagine how it would feel to live in the desert as a sultan or a king? Thriving civilizations in desert environs have boasted rich scriptural, academic, architectural endeavors throughout millennia - without timber, steel and concrete homes. Do you think they were in there sweating and swatting flies?
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This adobe house has some of the most sophisticated examples of wind catchers, sky lights, curved roofs. The forms are all functional as well as sculptural, and the roofing is a natural mud-straw plaster. This is adobe perfected for inhabitation by humans in this desert.
Adobe domes have withstood the test of time in both freezing and high desert temperatures. They resist fire. They passively regulate interior temperatures. They are built with materials found on-hand. Mechanized appliances and fuel demanding infrastructures are unnecessary.
Due to increasing costs, reduced availability and negative environmental impacts surrounding modern building materials (timber, steel, concrete, freight pollution), there is a renewed interest in this ancient building method. In an article entitled “Shell Membrane Theory Applied to Masonry Domes” Nader Khalili describes the engineering and dynamics of a dome. Rather than build with a toxic manipulation and movement of materials; by using what is on hand, earth (adobe) combined with the binding forces of the planet, we get a structurally sound, inexpensive and easy to make dwelling. This is the shape used for missles and submarines, withstanding extreme dynamics of thrust and force, which is just what you need in a house.
Accommodating remote, low budget cabins and decentralized libraries at the retreat center, easy to assemble roof, floors and walls make this model unique. The domed and vaulted roof system with cast walls will be made of paper adobe that is lighter weight compared to normal adobe, stronger, better insulated and sound proofed. It is also fire resistant. And these materials are readily, affordably (made in the front yard!) available.
Freight calculations demonstrate the lighter weight adobe components needed for foundation, floors, walls and roof will require two trips a day for 11 days of cartage to any site in the DM Retreat Valley. And with cast components, assembly will be fast and easy on site.
Cost for building materials will run well under $5,000, and accessory items can be added as budget permits.
The design is modular so end users can choose number of rooms and amount of square footage, based on needs and budget.
Arrangement of rooms will be around a central courtyard, further maximizing non-mechanical climate controls and water harvesting and storage.
Construction budgets will be finalized after construction of a 12’ dome currently underway at the Jamyang yard. Design parameters are in place to offer maximum economical, environmental and operational benefits.
When comparing these paper adobe materials and casting methods to frame and stucco, straw bale, rammed earth, even standard adobe block, these housing costs, time needed to build and carbon footprint are significantly lower.
Contact Kat Ehrhorn katehrhorn@gmail.com
This adobe house has some of the most sophisticated examples of wind catchers, sky lights, curved roofs. The forms are all functional as well as sculptural, and the roofing is a natural mud-straw plaster. This is adobe perfected for inhabitation by humans in this desert.
Adobe domes have withstood the test of time in both freezing and high desert temperatures. They resist fire. They passively regulate interior temperatures. They are built with materials found on-hand. Mechanized appliances and fuel demanding infrastructures are unnecessary.
Due to increasing costs, reduced availability and negative environmental impacts surrounding modern building materials (timber, steel, concrete, freight pollution), there is a renewed interest in this ancient building method. In an article entitled “Shell Membrane Theory Applied to Masonry Domes” Nader Khalili describes the engineering and dynamics of a dome. Rather than build with a toxic manipulation and movement of materials; by using what is on hand, earth (adobe) combined with the binding forces of the planet, we get a structurally sound, inexpensive and easy to make dwelling. This is the shape used for missles and submarines, withstanding extreme dynamics of thrust and force, which is just what you need in a house.
Accommodating remote, low budget cabins and decentralized libraries at the retreat center, easy to assemble roof, floors and walls make this model unique. The domed and vaulted roof system with cast walls will be made of paper adobe that is lighter weight compared to normal adobe, stronger, better insulated and sound proofed. It is also fire resistant. And these materials are readily, affordably (made in the front yard!) available.
Freight calculations demonstrate the lighter weight adobe components needed for foundation, floors, walls and roof will require two trips a day for 11 days of cartage to any site in the DM Retreat Valley. And with cast components, assembly will be fast and easy on site.
Cost for building materials will run well under $5,000, and accessory items can be added as budget permits.
The design is modular so end users can choose number of rooms and amount of square footage, based on needs and budget.
Arrangement of rooms will be around a central courtyard, further maximizing non-mechanical climate controls and water harvesting and storage.
Construction budgets will be finalized after construction of a 12’ dome currently underway at the Jamyang yard. Design parameters are in place to offer maximum economical, environmental and operational benefits.
When comparing these paper adobe materials and casting methods to frame and stucco, straw bale, rammed earth, even standard adobe block, these housing costs, time needed to build and carbon footprint are significantly lower.
Contact Kat Ehrhorn katehrhorn@gmail.com
