Geodesic and self-sufficient housing by Ecoproyecta

Description of the project by Ecoproyecta

This small house is located in an almond field in Jumilla (Murcia), on the northern slope of the Regional Park of Sierra de la Pila, within the municipality of Jumilla (Murcia). It is a house of 85 m2 for a couple, organized in ground floor and in two geodesic domes, one of 8 meters in diameter for the living-dining-kitchen and another of 6 meters in diameter for the bedroom and toilet. A corridor connects the two domes and serves as an entrance hall. 

Sustainability has been taken into account both in the constructive definition and in the solutions for thermal comfort. The construction system based on the geodesic domes allows to optimize the use of material, as such domes manage to cover a large volume with little amount of structure; therefore, it is a good solution from the environmental and economic point of view. In addition, only natural materials were used in the construction in order to ensure a healthy and comfortable environment (wood of sustainable cutting in the structure and enclosures, natural cellulose as thermal insulation and natural cork in the outer covering).

The plot has no electricity or water, so the house has been designed with bioclimatic strategies, integrating renewable energy and water purification systems so that it could be self-sufficient.

At the climatic level, the renovation of air and thermal comfort has been solved with three basic strategies:

• Good thermal enclosure, with great thermal insulation (12 centimeters of natural cellulose), absence of thermal bridges, and a good-quality wood and glass joinery with double glazing.

• Renovation of air and air conditioning using Canadian wells, that make use of the thermal inertia of the ground to introduce the exterior air into the house at a temperature close to that of comfort.

• Heating with two small biomass stoves, one for the dome of the living room and another for the bedroom.

This, together with the method of obtaining hot water by solar collectors, makes the energy consumption of the house minimal, creating a self-sufficient house based on a photovoltaic system.