Em Robinson

Ive seen that video for the shipping container tower, and while i think its a very interesting idea and love some of the things made with them, im very much a slave to the more traditional aesthetics of a stuccoed earth or stone tower. I looked at some pigeon cote towers that are freestanding and seem to have withstood a lot, so im thinking with the offshooting rooms and buttresses around the base, and a good foundation what ive got in mind should work, and as it happens I usually way overengineer things because if its my own project then id rather it be more labor intensive yet rock solid than simpler and less so. Im trying to figure out a good way to make a model of the design ive got in mind just as a visual tool, so far im thinking of a recessed box to contain a model foundation or basement and then building a model from muslin tubes packed with dirt and assembled like a mini version of the real thing, just to nail down what my ideas are in a physical prototype rather than hypothetical drawings.

From my knowledge (which is admittedly largely theoretical) the bags should remain relatively ok as long as theyre kept covered away from UV and moisture damage usually accomplished by a layer of stucco or similar external layer. The soil conposition itself should ideally settle into a very strong material once tamped and set up.

Another idea ive thought of could just be making the base of the tower from solid concrete but that would require forms and be much more expensive

“Why a tower?” Well ive always just wanted to have a tower. Why earthbag? Mainly because its the building format im most familiar with that would possibly be sturdy enough to work with the vision ive got, in the location it would likely end up in, and still be reasonably affordable. In theory i could shorten the tower slightly or add buttresses, but forgot to mention im planning a room coming off from the base of the tower, i could revise that to three rooms branching off with three large buttresses rising most of the way up the tower if people thinks that would help things.

Hi folks, this is my first post on this forum and I hope I could find an answer here. i realize information given via an online forum between random people isnt the same as good professional advice but ive got a design thats been in my head for years of a tower home which would end up either in the Appalachian mountains of N. Carolina, or possibly somewhere in Oregon.
 
Obviously the location would dictate a lot of what I can and cant do, but assuming I had the ideal soil composition, my idea is a tower about 15 feet in diameter and 35 feet tall, with walls three bags thick up to the 15 foot mark at which point they would drop to two bags thick, with bags bridging the two together and interspersed rebar stakes every few feet, using continuous bags for each layer. There would be floors every 12 feet adding what I assume would be some extra support. The kicker is, on top of that tower im looking to place a final wooden level, mostly for aesthetics and for a viewing platform, before finally adding the roof. I understand this is ambitious at best and asinine at worst but have had some issue finding much solid info online regarding what im looking to do and I figured I might find a few opinions from folks who know more than me about this building method and maybe be pointed in the right direction towards making this a reality or at least trying to.