Straw Bale Geodesic Dome

This is a time lapse of the creation of a straw bale geodesic dome. It is located in the newly created 'Bustan Neighborhood' on Kibbutz Lotan in the Arava Valley, Israel. The Neighborhood is designed to house the students of the Ecovillage/Permaculture Design course, The Green Apprenticeship. Find out more about The Green Apprenticeship at www.kibbutzlotan.com/creativeEcology/ga/index.htm

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Permaculture
• Ecovillage
• Green
• Apprenticeship
• straw
• bale
• construction
• geodesic
• dome
• time
• lapse

[GreenLearning]

I would so like to build one of there, but it rains a lot here :(

Love the natural hay and earth plasters, but looks like plastic is all that would work here.

[julialachman]

you can use the straw bale and earth plaster method for your walls, as long as you have a roof which will hang over them to protect them

[2Shye]

i'm wondering how you managed to water proof it.

most of the straw bale constructions have large overhanging roofs so that the rendered bales dont get exposed to heavy rainfall.. but with that doam the entire structure is exposed.. im wondering how its holding up over time..

[julialachman]

I mentioned in an earlier comment, but it's probably worth repeating, that this dome was built in one of the driest deserts in Israel. That is the main reason we could get away with no additional roof to protect the mud. We did use several layers of oil to waterproof it, but that is sufficient only in dry conditions.

[sistermitzi]

Does that crew work for free? I guess if you put a roof over it you could live in that anywhere. I'm building a strawbale doghouse for my dog in the Texas Panhandle and I'm putting a gable roof on it to protect it from rain. It will be stucco as well. Good job. This is cool. I would like to know in American dollars how much this cost to build.

[julialachman]

I'm not entirely sure how much the dome cost to build since I didn't pay for it. However, I know that we got the sand and clay pretty much free (which helps), so we only had to pay for the cement (base), metal pipes (frame), straw bales, and some odds and ends. My very rough estimate is about $1500-$2000.

[fireseed23]

Why did you not finish the video?? We are considering making one to live in in a northern climate, they can be waterproofed quite nicely, but an actual finished example would be great!

[PhotoNika]

awesome that you used daft punk!

[BigHeadFarm]

nice job!

[Patriotgal1]

Wonderful!!! I was wondering if anyone would ever put these two simple, great construction ideas together! (I'm building some sililar structures now- well, on hiatus til Spring!).

Straw-bales are wonderful- if sealed from moisture! My observatory is on a concrete slab (w/holes for telescope piers), a simple wood frame- thick adobe bricks (for thermal inertia), and strawbale exterior w/stucco. It is almost invisible against the background, and virtually bulletproof!

[Rhinoch8]

Nice! i'd dig some kind of roof. I always think about rodents and critters. How do you deal with them not drilling through the daubbing?

[mobyindisguise]

@virgojeep1 As long as the straw is compacted and covered with mortar of some sort there should be no oxygen available to fuel any fire. As long as your walls are maintained properly there should be very little fire risk. Indeed safety testing has been carried out in some countries and states (UK, Cali.) that surpass official standards regarding fire and earthquake..

[practicalwhacktical]

Watched it once because it's an awesome design. Watched it twice because you used Daft Punk. :-)

[SteveArpo]

Love what you are doing.

[robinamsa]

How are the windows put in? Especially seeing as how the sections of the struts are all triangular, how do you get the hay in tight between the window and the strut?

[PreuschoffPerrier]

very nice! Greets Inge

[medicineman4040]

Easy to waterproof straw bales...first cover with stucco/concrete mix and smooth...then acid wash the stucco/concrete...then paint with elastomeric paint. Done and easy....well except for troweling the stucco/concrete. Just remember that straw will wick moisture so the bottom of the bales on the first/bottom row must be sealed-this should be done before they are placed.

Also if you can do this with straw bales you can do it with sandbags full of earth/sand/mix.

[Lotum4n]

LOL Welcome to the Gettos LMFAO