Brighton’s Iconic Earthship Appeal for New Lease of Life

Brighton’s iconic “building of the future” is turning to people power to give it a new lease of life.

The internationally known Earthship has delighted and educated thousands of visitors for over nine years but now the much loved eco-building needs to revamp its energy and water systems.

The Earthship was designed and built by the Low Carbon Trust in 2006 as a model low carbon community centre for courses and school visits.

One of Brighton’s most iconic buildings, the Earthship was the first of its kind to be built in England and is one of only two Earthships in the UK (the other is in Fife, Scotland). Stanmer Park, one of Brighton’s most visited green spaces, is home to the award-winning building.

The Low Carbon Trust is launching a crowdfunding campaign, Earthship Brighton: Plugged into Nature to upgrade its vital energy and water systems.

Earthships are made using waste car tyres and other recycled materials. Not relying on mains water or energy from big companies, Earthships are self-contained living vessels. Earthships use natural systems to provide all their own utilities — solar energy for heat and power, and rain for water — they heat and cool themselves, and use plants, both inside and outside, to treat ‘grey water’.

Working as a demonstration site the Earthship is not a home. It illustrates how — with smart design and careful planning — the buildings we live and occupy can have a low impact on the planet whilst being both beautiful and comfortable.

The Low Carbon Trust need to raise £20,000 to acquire a new ultraviolet water filtration system to purify rainwater for use inside the building, purchase new batteries to store electricity generated by the solar panels, and to build a straw bale unit to securely house the new batteries.

Earthship Bottle Wall by Jo D'Ambra
Earthship Bottle Wall by Jo D’Ambra

With these new systems in place the building will be able to host many more events and courses and open the building up to the local community to use it for their own projects and events whilst continuing to demonstrate cutting edge renewable technologies alongside elegant ecological building design.

The Earthship Brighton crowdfunding campaign ends on Friday 11th December

Please click here for more information.