“IGLOO” HOUSES

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 3248, 5 April 1943, Page 8

“IGLOO” HOUSES

BUILT OVER BALLOONS NEW AMERICAN PROJECT PRODUCTION SPEEDED UP Almost unlimited scope in the construction of houses, farm buildings, barracks, dormitories, hangars, ammunition magazines, warehouses qn<l various other building enterprises, has Keen made possible by an interesting invention in America. “New construction technique, employing the combination of inflatable rubberised cottonfabric balloon forms, over which concrete is shot the gunite process, is being demonstrated on a Defence Homes Corporation project at Falls Church, near Washington,” states an. American journal. The ballons, which can be made in hemispherical or semi-cylindrical shape, of any practical size desired, can be removed after the first layer of concrete has hardened for 24 hours and used for other units. The American project is to try to produce attractive, inexpensive dwellings, the majority of them consisting of two hemispherical sections a few

feet apart and connected with a covered portion divided into an entrance hall, a bathroom and a kitchen. One of the hemispheres is divided by a wall into two bedrooms, and the other is a spacious living-room with a fireplace. Construction The flat side of the balloon is laid out on a concrete base, and after being anchored firmly, is inflated. It is covered with a welded iron mesh and the concrete is shot over the entire balloon to the thickness of approximately one inch. Framework for doors, windows and other apertures are fixed in place before applying the concrete, so that it can be shot around them, making the frame an integral part of the shell.

It takes between two and a-half to three hours to shoot the concrete for the shell, and 24 hours later the balloon can be deflated and set up for the next section.

The shell is then water proofed and insulated to a thickness of approximately one and a-half inches, after which a final coat of concrete, two to three inches thick, is applied.

The problem of labour shortage would be minimised considerably if this project were extended, as it has been estimated that these concrete “igloo” houses could be produced at the rate of 100 in 60 days, or 200 in 90 days, using only four balloon forms in the construction cycle.