After my time at the Permaculture convergence, I couldn’t wait to check out the Earth Dome’s at Solscape in Raglan that people were talking about!

These beautiful buildings are constructed using mostly materials that are readily available on site and are truly remarkable to stay in.

The inside of the Earth Dome is extremely comfortable, warm and welcoming. For me, it was a wonderful lesson on what is ‘enough’ in a house. The Earth Dome is simple, but homely and the other communal facilities provided everything else that was needed without wasting space or resources.

Earth Domes are built using an innovative tequnique called ‘earth-bagging’, where clay, pummice, cement or other avaliable materials are pressed into bags and then layed in consecutive layers on top of one another using barbed wire to hold the bags in place. Once this process is complete, the houses are then covered in a lime-plaster to finish and waterproof. These Earth Domes were constructed by a wonderful New Zealand company, Shelter Craft. Check out their website to find out more about how to learn to build one yourself.

The idea behind these experimental buildings, is to look towards the future and ways of creating beautiful, functional and eco-friendly homes that are also friendly on your wallet! The driving force behind the Earth Dome is to help create a world free for Mortgage Debt. A wonderful and hopeful concept!

And there is nothing like walking out of your Earth Dome and into a wonderful, organic food garden, designed using the principles of permaculture. Overall Solscape was a truly wonderful experience and a step in the right direction for the future!