A Look at Unusual Building Materials: Glass Bottles

 

There are many more materials that are used for building that most would not expect and find unusual. Everyday buildings are built from steel, wood, brick, concrete, etc. but what about ice, tires, or glass bottles? Whether it is to try and get away from the norm and build something incredible that will shock people, for aesthetic purposes, or even to be environmentally friendly by recycling the materials, there are so many different possibilities. This article will discuss the building of houses and other structures with glass bottles that not only makes for a cool twist on stained glass, but is also extremely environmentally friendly.

The very first bottle house is believed to have been built a little over 100 years ago in 1902 in Tonopah, Nevada by a man named William F. Peck (Brown, 2009) (Figure 1). Back then, regular building materials like lumber were extremely scarce in the dessert, but one thing that were not were saloons, 30 in the surrounding town (Ludacer, 2009),  and people drinking, making getting hold of bottles much simpler and cheaper than other more conventional building materials, and good thing because it took Peck 10,000 bottles to construct (Ludacer, 2009). Although this is the first recorded house made out of glass bottles, according to Wikipedia, “The use of empty vessels in construction dates back at least to ancient Rome, where many structures used empty amphorae embedded in concrete. This was not done for aesthetic reasons, but to lighten the load of upper levels of structures, and also to reduce concrete usage,” (Wikipedia, 2005) so really, this idea has been around for centuries to actually enhance the structure of the building which most people would not assume because glass is usually thought of as being fragile because it cracks and breaks so easily.

Construction of a bottle house can be as simple as “using a wood frame and concrete construction, [and] bottles…stacked up” (Mok, 2010) (Figure 2), or can be MUCH more complicated like using one million bottles to build the Thai temple Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew completely out of recycled bottles including the roof, washrooms, and crematorium (Gunzelman, 2008) (Figure 3). This idea of using bottles literally as bricks first came about in 1936 by Alfred Heineken, and designed by architect John Habraken as a “brick that holds beer”, Ludacer goes into more detail with a quote from inhabit.com by explaining that “Mr. Heineken’s idea came after a visit to the Caribbean where he saw two problems: beaches littered with bottles and a lack of affordable building materials. The WOBO became his vision to solve both the recycling and housing challenges that he had witnessed on the islands…[they] were meant to lay horizontally, interlock and layout in the same manner as ‘brick and mortar’ construction. Despite the success of the first “world bottle” project, the Heineken brewery didn’t support the WOBO and the idea stalled…Today, the shed at the Heineken estate and a wall made of WOBO at the Heineken Museum in Amsterdam are the only structures where the ‘beer brick’ was used.” (Ludacer, 2009). The Thai Temple interestingly enough, is built mostly from heinekin bottles as well although not built from these pre-engineered “beer bricks”, but it is built similarily with the bottles pressed up against each other almost interlocking (Figure 4).

According to Wikipedia, although most of the bottle houses vary, there is a basic successful construction method used. This method is explained in the article stating that “Although bottle walls can be constructed in many different ways, they are typically made on a foundation that is set into a trench in the earth to add stability to the wall. The trench is filled with a rubble of pea gravel and then filled in with cement… Bottle walls range one bottle to two bottles thick. Primitive mixture, such as cob or adobe can be used as mortar to bind the bottles… It is thickly spread on the previous layer of bottles followed by the next layer which is pressed into the mixture. Typically two fingers of separation are used as a means of spacing although any kind of spacing can be achieved” (Wikipedia, 2005). Basically, the method described here is not that much different from a basic construction using brick and mortar although according to Brown “construction tends to be a slow process as bottles must be properly spaced, stacked and set for stability” (Brown, 2009).

Building with glass bottles is actually a lot more common than I had originally thought it was. It is a great option for both recycling and getting rid of litter, as well as an interesting artistic expression using recycled materials. Bottles don’t only add an unusual touch to a building, but they also “make excellent building materials as they are a plentiful resource, keep their color over time, provide great indoor lighting and are generally easy to clean” (Brown, 2009), as well as “trap[ping] air to provide insulation rather than as opposed to losing heat and privacy (Mok, 2010).

 

Bibliography

Bottle wall - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2007, March). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved October 23, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottle_wall

Brown, L. (2009, June 10). Building With Bottles - Earth911.com. Earth911.com - Find Where and How to Recycle. Retrieved October 23, 2012, from http://earth911.com/news/2009/06/10/building-with-bottles/

Gunzelmann, D. (2008, October 24). One Million Beer Bottles Later and it’s a Buddhist Temple | greenUPGRADER. greenUPGRADER | Sustainable products, ideas & DIYs to help you on the path to green living. Retrieved October 23, 2012, from http://greenupgrader.com/4262/one-million-beer-bottles-later-and-its-a-buddhist-temple/

Harris, M. (2008, May 1). Building with bottles | Unusual Life. Unusual Life. Retrieved October 23, 2012, from http://unusuallife.com/2008/05/01/building-with-bottles/

Ludacer, R. (2009, February 5). 8 Glass Bottle Houses | Box Vox. Graphic Design & Structural Design for Retail Packaging: Beach Packaging Design. Retrieved October 23, 2012, from http://www.beachpackagingdesign.com/wp/2009/02/glass-bottle-houses.html

Mok, K. (2010 October 9). Russian Woman Builds House of 5,000 Glass Bottles : TreeHugger. TreeHugger. Retrieved October 23, 2012, from http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/russian-woman-builds-house-of-5000-glass-bottles.html