HELPING HANDS
WHAT IS THE STORY OF DOME VILLAGE?
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t all began with two young ambitious Swedish guys meeting in America. They quickly found out they shared many interests and had so much more in common beyond being in the same place at the same time. David Paulin and Christain Goran, both passionate about sustainability, met while on a building course in California, learning super-adobe construction. They realised they both had a common passion for surfing too, and as it turned out, Lombok was the place that had given them their best waves. Soon their plans started to take shape. They came back to Lombok together and purchased a piece of hillside land overlooking the famed surf spots of Gerupuk.
They were determined to push the boundaries of sustainable architecture to create their own piece of paradise. The mission is to offer barefoot luxury amenities with minimal impact on the environment. They used their newly-acquired super-adobe knowledge to create what is now being transformed into Dome Village. So what exactly is a super-adobe dome? Super-adobe is a building technique originally developed by Iranian architect Nader Khalili. It is a revolutionary building system that integrates traditional earth architecture from Iran with contemporary global safety requirements. It has proven to be extremely resistant against earthquakes, fires and floods. The main ingredient for any super adobe construction is natural soil. Domes are made from filling long or short bags with soil and sand. Filled bags are put on top of each other with rows of barbed wire to secure and compact them together. With a little imagination and geometry know-how one can create beautiful round spaces.
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