Interior

Although we're still putting the roof on the dome, the time is fast approaching to start work on the interior of the ship - that is building interior walls, putting in the plumbing, electricity, kitchen units and floors.

In preparation for the big group of volunteers we had in July 2012 I did a lot of planning so there'd be a variety of work for people to try. Although not much was finished a start was made and now I have a good idea of how the interior will be finished.

One of the most important things I'm designing for is a gentle interior that will be uplifting to live in which also ages with grace. To accomplish this I've been researching using more natural and local materials for finishes.

Interior walls

We're constructing these using cans and bottles to replace bricks and a fidobe mix to replace cement. Below is a visual I did for the patterning of the bathroom and utility room walls. It also shows the doors we're planning to use for the bathroom, they're reclaimed.

But first we need to put the footings in and place the door frames.

Design for bathroom wall

Footings for bathroom wall

Fidobe mix - after doing much reading and testing with our own soil, we've decided on a 50/50 mix of soaked, shredded paper and local soil. To this we add a small amount of yesso (plaster) where it will come into contact with wood to improve adherance.

Because of the nature of fidobe, it is non waterproof and wicks water, we'll need to do a first layer of cement and cans on top of the footings to make sure the fidobe is not in contact with the floor and therefore in danger of drawing up moisture.

This is an excellent site for info on fidobe and papercrete Living in Paper

We used the fidobe mix for our most recent can infill walls. It's lovely to work with and if you only have the 50/50 mix without the yesso it keeps overnight, or indefinitely, so there's no rushing to get the job finished in one hit.

As the fidobe is a breathable material we're planning to use a breathable paint as well. I've found this company in the uk that do a range of natural paints in beautiful colours Earthborn Paints Although it means shipping them down to Spain as I haven't found a single Spanish company that does an equivalent we may just have to.

Check out the entries in our blog to the left for our progress. I'll also keep this page updated with a summary.