Description of Challenge
Ecological building solution in desert lands.
Solution
Beehive homes can be found in the midst of hot deserts and cities. Most are found in rural farming communities, but there are also villages located in Urfa, Turkey and Aleppo (the largest city in Syria), which have been continually inhabited since the 6th millennium BC. Beehive homes are used for both storage and residences.
Built from all natural local materials, the thick walls help cool the interior by keeping out the sun, and acting as thick insulation. The walls are made from mud bricks and stacked in a giant circle. As the walls get higher, they close in to a conical shape and are capped off by domes. The interior and exterior walls are packed with straw and mud. Built in the arid desert, the mud walls dry to a hard and durable finish.
The top of the beehive dwellings have an oculus – a hole that provides light to the interior and sucks hot air up and out. Even though there is a hole at the top of the dwelling, the conical shape keeps the interior dry during the rare rainy season. The shape also enables rain to quickly drain off of the façade, meaning minimal mud erosion on the exterior of the homes.
The interiors of the beehive homes are very dark, as most are built without windows. Although inconvenient, this protects residents from the harsh desert winds, and blocks out the sun. With these natural heat-beating factors in place, the interior of each home remains around 75-85 degrees Fahrenheit, while the outside desert can blaze up to a blistery 140 degrees!
These eco-friendly beehive houses have been keeping desert dwellers across the Middle East sustainably cool and comfortable for centuries, and continue to do so even now.
