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C4 Grand Designs ~ The Underground Cumbrian House.

Mar 27, '08 4:42 PM
for everyone

Link: http://www.channel4.com/4homes/ontv/grand-designs/houses/C/cumbria.htm...

I watched Channel 4's "Grand Designs Revisited" last night, which highlighted a house built into the side of a hill in Cumbria, England. This type of ecofriendly building is of immense interest to me, and this program was great ~ it showed the original building of the house 5 years ago, and went back earlier this year to see how it had progressed and just how eco~sound it had turned out to be since construction.

I took a load of photos of the TV screen while it was on so I could 'share' it with Shane, until he had the bright idea of looking to see if there was a website to it ~ which of course there is! (I seem to like making things hard for myself, huh?! Hehehe.)

Anyway, I thought I'd share the link. :) It includes the whole project from start to finish, including photos and videos. I don't know if it's included here, but there was a cute bit where the mother was saying that her 5 year old son (whose bedroom is below ground and a bit gloomy) asked if he'd have windows in his bedroom when they went on holiday. She asked "why, would you like to have windows?" To which he replied "No". Like she said, they've raised a Hobbit. :)

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10 Comments

chrisakasweets wrote on Mar 27

In hawaii they build into the mtn. as well.. rather its lava rock.. the house eric is in is built on a hill as many others.. the garage is built into the mtn. side.. its amazing.. u see lava rock that has been terraced..solid..

utroukx wrote on Mar 27

that sounds interesting.

naarta wrote on Mar 27

Here in the states there are quite a few houses built likethis and they are all grand. I always wanted to live in one.

mousepotato66 wrote on Mar 27, edited on Mar 27

That sounds like something to see, Chris! I think it's a fantastic idea. This couple used around 80,000 tonnes of concrete to make sure the walls etc were thick enough to withstand the pressure of the earth around and above their home, which made for a huge carbon footprint. But they've worked out that the footprint will be gone in 15 years, and the house itself should last for hundreds.

I've just uploaded the photos I took last night (there were eighty of them! Eighty!! Good grief. I think I got a bit carried away!) Anyway, I've put 50 of them (the maximum Photobucket allows) into a slideshow. I must admit I'm pleased they've actually turned out so well ~ my mum took loads of photos of our telly in 1977, for the Queen's Silver Jubilee. All she got when she developed the film was a load of photos of.... the telly. Blank screen, just like it wasn't even on. I guess cameras have come a long way since then... ;)

Please feel free to fall asleep, wander off to make coffee etc etc...

chrisakasweets wrote on Mar 27

it sounds great but the garage that is built into the mtns are small.. can only fit one vehicle.. and it feels like u are in a cave.. pretty rustic...also roads leading into and off the mtn. are extremely narrow.. they will let residents park on both sides of the road..which makes for a lot of traffic..parking is limited on your own property.. other than that the view is gorgeous.. where he is, u can see for miles.

emmm1 wrote on Mar 27

This is a fascinating concept and one that I'm extremely interested in. Hubby and I spend endless hours discussing how we would like to build out eco friendly and self sufficient house of the future. Sighs, all but a dream just now.
As for the taking of photos from the telly, my memory is dim but I recall that it had something to do with fixed shutter speeds on point and shoot cameras. You had to be able to use a really slow shutter speed as the tv "image" was actually just a line that scrolled, giving the impression to the eye of a "whole" picture. A faster shutter speed would only capture the thin line of imaging leaving the rest of the screen looking blank.

bertthemensachicken wrote on Mar 27

In 2 years we're moving back to our farm and building 3 houses... plan to incorporate wind, solar, hydraulic, heat pump, super-insulation, earth bermed, etc. We're doing the planning now. If everything works as planned we'll hopefully be pretty close to self-suffcient. I already have a few solar projects, cabin, travel-trailer, etc, and they work great. Been doing this for quite a few years now.

fatwizard wrote on Mar 28

I want one Pleassssssssssssssssssseeeeeeee. Here in torandy alley underground seems like the way to go. and I have only seen one or two in years and years.

mrpiggy001 wrote on Jun 10

wow very interesting ideas. im gonna go cook now but be back later for more of a better look

innerchi wrote on Aug 18

Try this :
http://www.earthship.net/

interesting concept coming to a plot of land near you :-)

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