A couple have revealed how they spent seven years designing and building a home made entirely out of bits of trash.
Laura Davies and Dave Buchanan, both 55, live in their so-called ‘Earthship’ in the Almeria province of Andalucia, in Spain, having moved there in 2002 and initially purchasing an old Cortijo, a type of traditional rural dwelling.
“Although we loved the place and installed many eco features, we decided we wanted to live further into the countryside,” Laura told Jam Press. “We decided to look for an architect who could design, or already had designed, an eco-house that we could get built,” she said.
It was then that Laura discovered ‘Earthships’ on the internet, revealing that she “immediately fell in love with their handmade qualities.”
“The thought of being able to build it ourselves was inspiring, plus the theory behind them was genius,” she said.
Earthships are an idea that originated from American architect, Michael Reynolds, and are essentially a sustainable dwelling constructed from local and waste materials, such as old tyres and drink cans.
The couple purchased a whole set of Earthship books and after reading through them all, they decided it was something they could do and started looking for land.
After searching and finding the land, the pair met with the local town planner to discuss how to get permission to build and submitted their creative project to the council which was approved one year later.
The walls of the home itself are made entirely from car tyres which Laura and Dave collected from their local tyre garage, noting that they work well at achieving a constant temperature of at least 16C throughout the year.
Meanwhile, the infill walls are made from drink cans and bottle bricks held together with padobe (mud and papier-mache), the roof is from local pine beams and wood, and collects rainwater, which the couple use for washing, cooking, irrigating in-house planters and for the toilet. Hot water and electricity are generated through the use of solar panels.
The insulation is natural fsc cork from a forest in the Valencia area of Spain and the front of the building is glass. Acting much like a greenhouse, it creates solar heat and light and keeping them warm during winter without the need for fossil fuel heating. It also allows them to grow food.
The couple said they also called on members of their local garden club to collect cans, bottles and newspaper to help them build their dream home, which they have named Cuevas de Sol, meaning “Caves of Sun” in Spanish.
However, it wasn’t all plain sailing for the pair, as Laura admits the project took two years to complete, owing in part to the fact that Dave suffered a very nasty injury.
“Dave had an accident with the bench saw during construction. He nearly lost three fingers and we had to take 5 months off for him to recuperate. So really it only took a year and a half!”
But it all paid off in the end, as Laura explains: “We adore our home and are still sometimes surprised that we built it ourselves! It works so well, and in winter is especially lovely to live in with temperatures averaging 18C without any need for heating – if it does get a bit chilly I’ll bake a cake so the oven warms the room! It is beautifully light and airy and lets us look straight into nature.”
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