Brighton’s Earthship

An example of an environmentally conscious and low waste future.

Brighton’s Earthship, located in Stanmer Park, was the first Earthship to be built in England. It is an off grid community center, the building itself can be visited anytime but to get an in-depth tour of the whole exterior and interior of the earthship there are monthly tours with more details on https://www.lowcarbon.co.uk/tours. 

Designed to be largely self-sufficient, the building harnesses energy from solar panels on its roof and a small wind turbine using this energy to create hot water and electricity for the building. It also makes use of its large windows that maximize passive solar heating. This energy-efficient design ensures the Earthship operates independently from traditional power sources.

In addition to its energy system, the Earthship is equipped with an innovative rainwater harvesting system. Its inverted roof collects rainwater, which is then purified and converted into drinking water. This water is used three times within the building, before being directed to a reed bed for filtration. The reused water, after its first use, nourishes a variety of plants inside the Earthship, including pathos, spider plants, and aloe vera, plants that also have the practical use of cleaning the air. If the earthship was used as a permanent residence then the plants could be replaced with crops and herbs to feed the residents living there and furthering its self sufficiency. 

Built predominantly from recycled and natural materials, the Earthship’s structure includes reused tyres rammed with chalk, and glass bottles for decorative purposes. This sustainable approach to building was created by architect Michael Reynolds, who came up with the concept of an Earthship in the 1970s. At the time there was a growing sense of environmental awareness. Reynolds wanted to create a building that not only connected with the Earth but also used materials that would otherwise go to waste, his first self-sufficient and sustainable communities being built in New Mexico. 

While not every aspect of the Earthship is perfect such as the rate of degradation of the wooden framed windows due to rainy British weather, it is certainly an interesting and innovative attempt towards sustainable building, with many aspects that make use of the earth and the unconventional building materials that would otherwise go to waste.