[Cob] Design Concept

[Patrick Newberry]

I just read the info on Lloyd Kahn's site listed below. Being that I'm
currently dealing with putting furniture in a dome, hang pictures etc I
see some points that my earth bag dome / cob house has over the basic
geodesic dome talked about by Lloyd. Thoughts, not in any particular
order.

1.) Since the dome is only one room of my house aka the main "living
Room" type room and I have a total of 1600 sq ft. I can afford to have
square funiture and have extra empty space. I actually prefer this room
to be not overly crowded with furniture. To hang pictures, the top part
of the dome has a bamboo frame that I hang wires down which can hold
pictures.

2.) The walls of this dome are earth bag and the "cap" is ferro cement.
I have a sky light at the top and have had to contend with a leak once
or twice over the last few years. Actually condensation on the sky light
as been the bigger problem. I've put a large wood burning barrel stove
in the dome now and it has actually helped quite a bit since the hot /
dryer air seems to have almost stopped any codensation problems. 

3.) the outer walls that go around my dome are not 90 degree angles
either, but more like  135 degrees. Actually nothing much in my  house
is straight, even or level. I'm fine with it but I could see where it
would drive some folks baty. Thus odd shape houses do require a bit more
imagination in decorating and layout than stick / box houses. 

4.) for expansion, since the outer walls are cob, I put in one strawbale
wall. Figured it would be easier to expand than tear down a cob wall.
Plus this is currently my bedroom. I plan on working it such that when I
choose I can retreat to the bedroom which is a pretty comfortable size
and only dealing with heating a smaller area rather than the whole 1600
sqft of the house. Since the cob holds a lot of warmth from the day even
in winter with no heat it gets pretty cool but is still warmer than
outside. Oh heck who am I kidding, I'll never expand this house, I'll
leave that to my children.

5.) my outer roof, from the dome to the overhang, my biggest mistake.
Not enough slope. I've got it under control but if I was starting from
square one, that I would add more slope!

Pat
www.gypsyfarm.com




<snip>

Might want to read what Lloyd Kahn (Domeboodks I and II) says about
Geodesic 
Domes after all these years.

http://www.shelterpub.com/_shelter/refried_domes.html

Might want to think about a) reciprocal roofs or b) earthbag domes,
although 
you couldn't put the second type up so you can finish the rest of the 
</snip>