Island Earthship Build: Week 5. Day 33. ‘Photos of the Finished Main House Earthship’

Friday June 24, on the Main House Earthship Build:

Here is a series of Photos selected over the course of the 5 week Earthship Build with Michael Reynolds, on the West Coast of BC. These photos show some of the Finished Details of the Main House Earthship that was part of the two Earthships built on one site. Check out ‘Time Lapse of the Main House Eartship’,  ‘Photos of the Finished Smaller Studio Earthship’, and ‘Time Lapse of the Earthship Build’ for more details of this Gulf Island build. Note: this is NOT our house, but a build we participated in.

A  Rock Retaining Wall (left) helps keep the Earth Berm behind the Earthship Roof Line from Eroding until Grass and Vegetation has had a chance to grow in.  The Earth Berm reaches the Roof Line (right), covering the Water Cisterns. For now Sticks are marking where the Cistern lids are buried below, for  maintenance access.

Each Bedroom in the Earthship has a Walk Around Open Closet to allow in maximum Natural Light in the U-Shaped room.

Here is a Walk-Through view starting at the left side of the Walk Around Closet.

A simple Shelf is on the back wall, and includes a Clothes Hanger Rod…

… while the Open Box Closet also has a shelf and clothes hanging rod.

Detail of the back wall shelf and it’s finished corner (left). Close up of the Screened Vent Box (right) covering the Cooling Tube that extends back 40 feet through the Earth Berm behind the Earthship.

View from the Bedroom, looking out past the Greenhouse Hallway, and through the exterior front Windows of the Earthship.

The finished cement floors are still wet after clean-up, as I photograph the finished Kitchen.

Just between the Kitchen cabinet housing the Sink, and the vertical glass to the Greenhouse Hallway (left), is the Floor Planter for the first pass of Greywater from the Kitchen sink. The fresh Sprouts were grown in the last few weeks by Volunteer Interns while on the build. You can barely see the space for the floor planter behind the Kitchen cabinet housing the sink while standing in the middle of the main room (right).

In the Greenhouse Hallway, directly outside the Kitchen, is the Particulate Filter, shown here with the lid closed.

Here is the Particulate Filter with the lid open, allowing easy access to clean any particles from food or hair too large for the Greywater system.

Here is one of the Floor Planter Boxes (left), part of the Greywater system,  inside the Greenhouse Hallway, without any plants yet. Directly above (right), the Operable Vent Box on the roof is open for maximum air flow from the Greenhouse Hallway.

Here is another Operable Vent Window. This is one of several that are part of the front exterior glass wall facing South for maximum exposure to the Sun. These large windows have screens that slide up for easy egress in an Emergency, or simply large items that need to be passed in or out of the Greenhouse Hallway. It certainly makes getting rid of Planter weeds easier by simply chucking them out of the front window!

Standing in the Greenhouse Hallway, and facing the West entrance (left), you can see the finished Bottle Wall, with the Brown Coat Plaster of the wall below. The finished detail of the corner (right), includes a Brown Coat Plaster Wall, and wooden planks in the Ceiling. You can just see part of the window into one of the Bedrooms.

Walking through the West Wing Airlock (left), we can now step out onto the finished cement floor and landscaping. Everything is sloped away from the Earthship exterior, to allow good Drainage away from the house.

Looking back towards the doorway, we can see the levels in the cement floor pours.

Here we are looking at the East Entrance to the Earthship, with the finished Can Wall.

Image credits: Monica Holy