The future of housing may lie beneath our feet, with underground homes offering a solution to pressing environmental, energy, and land-use challenges.
The future of housing may lie beneath our feet, with underground homes offering a solution to pressing environmental, energy, and land-use challenges. In an era of rising temperatures, fluctuating energy costs, and diminishing natural habitats, the concept of building houses underground presents an intriguing approach to addressing these issues.
A remarkable example is Britain’s PERDU, a house entirely constructed underground, showcasing the potential of subterranean architecture. Here, we explore how prebuilt underground homes could transform modern living, reduce our reliance on heating and cooling, and minimise environmental impact.
PERDU, designed by Make Architects in the UK, is a stellar example of sustainable, underground living. Nestled below ground level, the residence is a circular structure with an entryway and skylight at the surface, allowing natural light to penetrate the interior spaces. Despite being underground, the home is bright and airy, thanks to careful architectural planning and the use of reflective materials. The temperature regulation is highly efficient, with the surrounding earth naturally insulating the building. This means that less energy is required for heating in winter and cooling in summer, demonstrating how underground homes can substantially reduce household energy consumption.
Underground homes maintain a relatively constant temperature throughout the year, thanks to the insulating properties of the earth. By being surrounded on most sides by soil, these homes can benefit from the earth’s natural thermal inertia, significantly reducing the need for artificial heating and cooling. Prebuilt underground houses can be designed to maximise this natural insulation, making them more energy-efficient than traditional homes.
This reduction in energy consumption aligns with global efforts to reduce carbon footprints and combat climate change. By decreasing the reliance on heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, homeowners can enjoy not only lower energy bills but also a reduced environmental impact. The savings in energy consumption could be significant, especially in countries with extreme temperatures, making underground homes a viable option for sustainable living.
The construction of new housing developments across regions like Australia has led to widespread destruction of wildlife habitats. Expanding urban and suburban areas encroach on forests, grasslands, and wetlands, pushing wildlife further away and leading to issues such as habitat loss and decreased biodiversity. Additionally, conventional housing developments often result in disputes over land use, fencing, and the division of natural spaces.
By placing homes underground, we can drastically minimise the impact on the environment. Prebuilt houses can be constructed off-site and then carefully dug into place, allowing the above-ground area to remain largely undisturbed. Imagine a world where residential areas are built underground, leaving the surface as a shared space for community use, nature reserves, or wildlife corridors. This would not only preserve natural habitats but also create a unique way for humans to coexist with the environment.
In Australia, where urban development has displaced countless species, this approach could provide a blueprint for sustainable housing that works in harmony with the natural world. Preserving the land above ground for flora and fauna could facilitate biodiversity and create green, communal spaces in urban areas.
The concept of using underground spaces extends beyond homes; in Mexico City, an entire shopping centre has been constructed underground. This underground marketplace, which features a central skylight for natural lighting, demonstrates how subterranean spaces can be designed to be functional, aesthetic, and eco-friendly.
Natural light is a crucial aspect of designing underground spaces to ensure they remain livable and welcoming. By incorporating features like skylights, light wells, and reflective surfaces, underground homes and structures can capture daylight, reducing the need for artificial lighting during the daytime. The Mexican underground shopping centre illustrates how these design principles can be applied to create vibrant and usable spaces below the earth’s surface.
Prebuilt homes are an innovative approach to underground living. By constructing homes off-site and then placing them underground, the disruption to the surrounding environment is significantly reduced. This method allows for more precise construction, quicker installation, and minimal disturbance to local ecosystems compared to traditional building processes.
Once dug into place, these homes become almost invisible from above ground, seamlessly integrating into the natural landscape. By burying homes underground, we can also eliminate common above-ground issues such as fencing disputes, as properties do not encroach on visible space. This approach could revolutionise residential development, leading to more harmonious community planning that prioritises both human living spaces and environmental conservation.
The idea of putting homes underground is not merely a vision of the future but a practical, sustainable solution to some of the most pressing environmental challenges we face today. Underground homes can drastically reduce the need for heating and cooling, conserve natural habitats, and allow for a more harmonious coexistence between human communities and wildlife. By rethinking traditional construction practices and embracing the potential of underground living, we can create homes that are not only energy-efficient but also kinder to the environment.
The success of projects like Britain’s PERDU and Mexico’s subterranean shopping centre demonstrates that underground spaces can be both functional and comfortable. It’s time to explore this innovative housing concept further, investing in research and development to make underground living an accessible and desirable option worldwide. With careful planning and design, prebuilt underground homes could offer a blueprint for sustainable, low-impact living that leaves the world aboveground for the community and wildlife to thrive.