Coral Homes

Coral forms when small creatures grow, encasing their bodies in a calcium-carbonate shell. They live, die, and then the next generation live on the dead shells of the previous generation. Most coral colonies grow upwards between 1 and 10cm per year. However, this is under natural conditions with rough seas and predators in effect.

A form of coral and supporting zooxanthellae are bred/selected for their fast-growth, and tolerance to high-humidity conditions, rather than strictly under-water ones.

The method of construction is to set the foundation, and then to plant wall-seeds using pieces of the living coral. The building site is roofed off and a fine mist of water, richly infused with a delicious mixture of plankton, algae and construction material, provides food and building materials for the coral. UV lamps are housed in the top of the roofed area in order to encourage the coral to grow upwards.

All run-off water is collected and sent round again to minimize the loss of water in the process. This also assists in the coral's reproductive cycle.

Architectural features are created by shielding the growing coral from either light and/or food. Since the coral should grow in an upward-and-outward fashion, all ceilings would be vaulted. Flat surfaces can be made by placing flat, grids of poisonous material that kills coral on contact and shaving off any pieces that manage to poke through. Other methods can be employed to manage the growth of the coral in the desired manner.

Once the building is finished, the housing is dismantled and the house is ready to be outfitted (though at many stages (i.e. plumbing, wiring etc) the outfitting could have already been installed and the coral allowed to grow up around it.

By changing the composition of the minerals in the water, different colours and properties could be given to the building material. Post growth, sealant materials and other preparations can be sprayed onto the structure to provide it with suitable waterproofing etc.

The advantage of building in this manner is that once the housing is set up, few workers need to attend the site, the coral grows by itself, and need only be coaxed or tended by a single person in order to achieve the desired results. For these reasons, apart from the exciting new organic architectural look, the property is also much cheaper to build than using traditional labour and materials.