Coral Reef Villa

This idea is to allow you to grow your own house. It involves minimal human effort, as once you've set it up the coral does all the hard work.

First you need to lay a firm concrete foundation in the conventional way. On top of this you erect prefabricated sheets of aluminium to form a large crate, big enough to contain a house. Fill the crate with water and nutrients, and seed it with carefully chosen varieties of coral, and the coral will grow and form reefs inside the box.

To turn this into a house, you need to control where the coral reefs grow, in order to form walls. This is done with light. Many species of coral, because they derive most of their energy from photosynthesis, will only grow in the light. So you can guide where the corals grow by placing a mask over the top of the chamber, so that the only light shines vertically down in thick beams where you want your walls to be. The coral will grow vigorously inside these beams, but will not grow in the shade.

The mask needs to be thick to ensure that the angle of the beams doesn't change as the sun moves across the sky. It will consist of a top layer of translucent material. Underneath this is a thick (c. 2 metres) sheet of polystyrene, the sort you get in packing crates. The plan view of the walls is cut in this. The sides of the slots are painted matt black to prevent reflected light. This arrangement will ensure that the light always shines straight down.

Once the walls have reached the desired height, simply drain and dismantle the box. Then you can add a roof, some rugs, a bit of furniture, and knock out a couple of windows.

Of course, this won't grow overnight, but because it grows by itself you can just set it going and wait until it's finished, coming back every now and then to replenish the nutrients. It should only take a couple of years for a bungalow. If you choose your corals right, you will have a beautifully coloured dwelling that will be the envy of all your stone-clad neighbours.