Earthbag domes of Dome Lombok: From ecotourism to earthquake-resistant housing

Growing global tourism is putting a major stress on the environment all over the world. In many countries tourists from wealthier countries use more resources and generate more waste per person than the average local person. These days there is a lot of talk about ecotourism or responsible tourism and reducing the negative impact of tourism while growing the positive impacts, such as money brought into local communities. One project that is addressing this need is Dome Lombok, a new resort and ecovillage on the Indonesian island of Lombok.

Dome Lombok is using sustainable building solutions without compromising on the quality of design. The resort is being built using the technique of earthbags or superadobe, showing that even a luxury resort can be built using local, environmentally friendly materials. But earthbag domes are by no means limited to luxury resorts, and Dome Lombok has also shown their potential in providing sustainable, affordable and strong housing for communities impacted by earthquakes.

Earthbag dome resort of Dome Lombok

The dome village of Dome Lombok is set on a hillside in the village of Gerupuk in South Lombok with panoramic views over the village and the coastline. The first stage of construction includes nine self-contained domes, a restaurant and a co-working space with possibilities for expansion. The domes are owned by an Indonesian company and the company is looking for people to invest in the domes. It is generally very difficult for foreigners to own land in Indonesia, but this set up makes it possible for foreigners to invest in ecotourism in Lombok.

As the dome village is to be an ecoresort, lowering the environmental impact of the resort is an important part of the design. Rainwater harvesting, water recycling, solar power and recycled wood furniture are some of the ways in which Dome Lombok plans to decrease the environmental impact of the resort. There are also plans to create permaculture gardens and to incorporate agroforestry into the resort in order to create locally produced food for the restaurant.

A main feature of the environmentally conscious design of Dome Lombok is of course the earthbag domes. The principle is to fill bags – for example empty rice bags – with a mixture of sand and earth that is then manually compacted. The compacted bags are stacked on top of each other with barbed wire in between to form a strong wall, or in this case sloping to form a dome. The technique requires a lot of manpower but little industrially produced materials, which means that a greater proportion of the money spent goes to local workers. Plastering – in this case using lime and wax – is an important detail that creates a clean, resistant and appealing finishing that protects the bags from deteriorating in the sun.

Working with the design of the domes has been an interesting challenge for the Dome Lombok team. The team has wanted to push the design of typical earthbag domes, moving away from dark and “hobbit home” type designs and trying to make the most of the round space. It has been a learning process, and building the first dome really helped the team understand the possibilities of the technique and improve on the designs of the following domes.

Adapting earthbag domes to local community needs

On August 5th, 2018 a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Lombok. Damage in the south was minimal and the dome village suffered no damage. But the north of Lombok suffered extensively with some 67,000 houses destroyed and 350,000 people left homeless. After the disaster, the team of Dome Lombok also wanted to do their part to help the locals of the island.

Domes are one of the most earthquake-resistant forms of building, which makes them ideal in earthquake prone countries like Indonesia. Dome Lombok teamed up with an NGO working in some of the northern villages that had suffered the greatest damage. They raised money through crowdfunding and organized an international workshop with volunteers coming to help build domes homes while learning how to build with earthbags. With the money raised, Dome Lombok managed to build three houses in three villages.

The foundations of the old collapsed homes were still in good shape and they could be used even for the new domes. Not having to dig out the old foundation and build a new one saved a lot of time, money and resources. The families were given options to customize the design, for example by choosing materials. The domes built are larger than at the resort in order to accommodate large families, although they are simpler in design. At first the families found their new homes a bit strange, but now they have gotten used to them.

Through this community project Dome Lombok also taught the locals how to build with earthbags. Initially people were very interested in the dome houses and their earthquake safety aspects and affordability. But as time goes on and people are starting to forget the disaster, interest in earthquake safety and the domes is also fading. The government has been giving money to families to build new homes after the earthquake, but the families are only allowed to build three types of government approved houses and earthbag domes are not one of them, although Dome Lombok has been trying to get the technique approved. Making a new technique accepted takes time and sadly, it will probably take another earthquake before people will truly see the benefit of the domes.