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Concrete Arches
Properly designed Earth sheltered buildings can be very cost competitive against conventional buildings mainly because the cost of external finishes are minimised.
Our practice is always striving for low cost solutions for bushfire and storm resistant housing and to this end we have developed some construction systems based around an arch which as we all know is a purely compression structure and has no tensile stresses.
Arches are capable of larger spans and supporting heavier loads than horizontal beams, particularly when dealing with the huge loads imposed by the enclosing soil surrounding buried structures.
Properly designed Earth sheltered buildings can be very cost competitive against conventional buildings mainly because the cost of external finishes are minimised.
Our practice is always striving for low cost solutions for bushfire and storm resistant housing and to this end we have developed some construction systems based around an arch which as we all know is a purely compression structure and has no tensile stresses.
Arches are capable of larger spans and supporting heavier loads than horizontal beams, particularly when dealing with the huge loads imposed by the enclosing soil surrounding buried structures.
The concrete in our arch designs is generally only 120mm thick which is a considerable contrast to the average thickness of the roof structure in our flat ceiling buildings, which is around 380mm thick for the same span.
Stabilised Compressed earth blocks are an alternative technique for the same arches. There have been some logistical issues with the machines to manufacture the blocks but this system is slated for several of our current designs.
There are many possible permutations for the arched construction system, from granny flats to courtyard atrium designs to layouts with a mezzanine level. The most cost effective planning would have a width of 7200mm and a height of 4350mm.
Stabilised Compressed earth blocks are an alternative technique for the same arches. There have been some logistical issues with the machines to manufacture the blocks but this system is slated for several of our current designs.
There are many possible permutations for the arched construction system, from granny flats to courtyard atrium designs to layouts with a mezzanine level. The most cost effective planning would have a width of 7200mm and a height of 4350mm.
