Resident at Kilmatogh bog (Reg. By Malcol@ Cassin @ ind founder of the XUAL Community jp No. 5/22367) 1974 0 eeIntroduction 2 Principles and design 2 Geodesic domes 3 Living on the bog 4 ‘Treatment of effluent/waste water 5 5 6 6 8 Structures and planning permission Dwelling hous and communal buildings Dwellings Communal Buildings Conclusion 9 Appendix 1 - Plan of Structures 1 Compost Toilet 11 Storage Shed 12 Bath House 13 Small dwelling 14 Large dwelling 15 Meditation centre 16 Laboratory qt Appendix 2 -Map of Site 18 Introduction The following is a summary of structures on the Kilmatogh boglands. The aim of this document is to comply with local planning authority regulations and to provide an account of the type of structures, their design reasons, successful implementation, and critical evaluation of their cost benefits for others who may want to set up similar communities in the future, Since the founding of the XUAL Community in 1969, I have witnessed all of the structures built on the bog land in Kilmatogh. As a small Community of experimentalists we originally had limited experience in building timber— framed structures, but that didn't dissuade us and over time our proficiency increased with each successful build. they have gained hi experience. Principles and design Our aims were to build our own homes from wood and to re-use the materials Our aim was also to abide by healthyenvironnent standards and planning regulations laid down by the Planning Authority of Leitrim County Council. We fully considered the structures to be temporary insofar as they could be dismantled and the land easily returned to its former state if our Community came to an end at Kilmatogh. Most of our dwelling structures were built by placing untreated timber directly in the ground. This meant the building's lifespan was limited to the decay rate of the timber unless regular maintenance was performed. More important structures such as the laboratory and meditation centre had to be designed so that their timbers were not in contact with the moisture-leaden ground to avoid this maintenance requirement. Wo conventional concrete foundations were intended or have been used in the construction of these structures. This stipulation allows for the removal of the buildings and the rehabilitation of the bogland to its natural state should the need arise. Geodesic domes Conventional housing requires that we spend a tremendous amount of energy and money constructing and maintaining them. The comfort and living convenience that we get from these inefficient homes do not increase linearly with their higher cost. As investment in a house goes up, there is @ decreasing marginal efficiency. This extra cost often translates into a lifetime of work to pay off mortgage debts. It behoves an experimental Community like ours to literally think outside ‘the box and to listen to Mr Buckminster Puller who exhorts that we must use our intelligence and modern materials to transcend the idea that housing 4s a scarce resource, My experience having built and lived in a variety of alternative structures over the last 22 years is that frai domes balances many of the trade-offs while drastically minimising construction time and overall cost. To construct our homes for the XUAL Community, we needed them to be reasonably simple and quick to build. We kept in mind size restrictions and began exploring frameless geodesic domes made up of damp-proof boil-proof (DPB?) ply-board coated with a layer of bitumen. Inside this is 3/4" foan— board insulation. An inner plastic layer is fitted tightly to the foam- board creating a sandwich held together with anodized metal bolts that go through all the layers. ‘he geodesic dome shell is made up of six pentagons and ten equilateral triangles (where each pentagon is made up of five isosceles triangles), which are extremely easy to disassemble making it a temporary structure. The shell ie about 21/2 inches thick, is self supporting much like an 3igloo, and has a radial floor insulated with two layers of foam-board insulation. Bach house has electricity provided by a gasoline fueled generator; is heated with a eingle electric radiator; and can be fitted with a small dehumidifier. Environmentally speaking the total energy input of the structure is a fraction of what is used in a conventional home. The living space of the dome feels open, clean, spacious and novel. There is a that you are not compromising but rather living in a space that is actually nicer than many conventional living quarters. I can't really emphasize this enough: the dome dwelling is an absolute pleasure to live in. One might think that I am saying that people should abandon their concrete structures and live in inexpensive, easy-to-build lightweight wooden ones. Thies is not my ideal. My ideal is low built handcrafted housing: Housing that ie crafted and grown by a community with attention towards those who will be occupying it five generations later. We don't live in that world right now. We live in a world of mass produced housing that treats efficiency as secondary and beauty is tacked on as an afterthought. Modern economics has pressured us to give up on the beautiful handcrafted home and pushed us towards concrete monstrosities, all the while retaining a cost to us and the environment that is a tremendous burden. ‘It 4s possible to change the current system by creating homes that are extremely efficient and epheneral. that way, it leaves us free to focus on personal development and to create the things that have a real lasting value to our Community. Living on the bog Ae our Community lives on wet bogland, we have two options regarding our structural design needs if we wish to have dry floors: Most structures in Kilmatogh are built on stilts raising the building off the waterlogged ground. This minimises damp problems and also the impact on the landscape in the event the structures needs to be removed. It also has the benefit of not having to dig or level the ground underneath. Some structures, particularly the laboratory and meditation centre, are built on raised platforms. This has been achieved by placing the joists of the platforms on stone blocks resting on the subsoil of the bogland. This required some levelling of the ground underneath and has the advantage of greater stability along with the advantage that internal weight is no longer an issue.Prior to our initial groundworks, a survey of the flora and fauna of Kilmatogh bog was conducted to ensure that endangered species were not effected by the development. Later groundworks were undertaken at appropriate times of the year not sensitive to wildlife. Por example, June to August was outside of dormouse breeding and November to March outeide of hibernation season. What made us settle in Kilmatogh bog is a unique story: I'd previously heard about an Irish folklorist and archaeologist by the name of Dr. Raymond Broadbent, who with a couple of European archaeologists that were interested in old legends of the Beast of the Bog, excavated Kilmatogh over @ decade previously and discovered a prehistoric temple several meters below the surfa Amazing though this find was, what most interested me was that Dr. Broadbent began having strange dreams shortly after his discovery. Dreams in which he experienced the past life of a worshipper at the temple and could describe every facet of the building, knew what the functions of every room was, what happened to the temple worshipper: principal god, without actually having fully excavated it. Dr. Broadbent's dreams convinced me that he was psychically tapping into some sort of atavistic ‘energy pool’ and that Kilmatogh was the focal point of it —a genius locale or ‘thin place’ as folklorists call it. I believe settling our Community here will allow us to tap into this wealth of energy and unlock all the hidden mysteries of the human mind and discover facts about the past otherwise unobtainabl (Unfortunately, Dr. Broadbent is no longer alive, having past away a few years ago at the former Coldridge House asylum in Blackross, where he resided for a number of years following a disturbed breakdown. So, we'll hhave to find out how to tap thie resource ‘pool’ through our own experiments and activities.) Treatment of effluent/waste water Compost toilets (see plan, page 11) used by the Community are not sited within 10 meters of a natural watercourse and there is no release of untreated waste water within 10 meters of a natural watercourse. Biodegradable soaps and similar toiletries are used by Community members only. A sedimentary water purification system is in place to purify water from the laundries and bath houses (see plan, page 15) before returning it harmlessly back into the environment. ‘The system consists of multi-chamber tanks which percolates the wastewater up through layers of gravel and sand then passes it through charcoal and sand before emptying it into a sink hole surrounded by native willow trees and nettles which make use of the nutrient rich water. The system is checked and maintained throughout the year. Structures and Planning Permission ‘Mhe buildings in Kilmatogh are constructed to be temporary structures, 80 @ have sought temporary planning permission from Leitrim County Council. ‘Though the development seems large by individual standards the overall cost of materials used to build the Community's eixty nine geodesic domes and communal buildings tallied only at around 1R £55,000. Because temporary planning permission sought for the structures requires time, money and energy, and the planning authority has shown little interest in allowing us to change the plans during the periods of experimentation when we have improved or altered the buildings’ design, we have sought no further planning permission. It would be ideal for us and for others interested in research and development of temporary structures, if we where able to make modifications to them within certain parameters agreeable with the planning authorities without the need to submit further planning applications. Dwelling Houses and Communal Buildings here are currently sixty nine dwelling houses, a meditation centre, a research laboratory, four laundry halle, four communal bathhouses, fifteen compost toilets, and a few ancillary storage structures in the site, They are linked throughout by raised timber platforms and wooden causeways. ‘AlL the buildings on Kilmatogh bogland have been constructed by hand using only hand tools by the members of our Community. No outside assistance was sought nor offered. Dwellings ‘The dwellings are wood construction geodesic domes, built on Larch stilts going into the ground to provide a flat floorspace. Internal dimensions in the smallest dome is 18 feet wide at the widest point and about 13 feet tall at ite highest. It feels very spacious for a 209 square foot living space. ‘Two sizes of domed dwellings were developed to a remarkable simplification in fabrication and construction. We have decimated the complexity of the dome build and the part count for the whole shell (inner, insulation, andouter) comes to 164 parts. Rust-resistant anodized metal bolts account for all the necessary fastening needed to hold the shell together. (Large geodesic dome dwelling on Kilmatogh) If you look at the dome dwellings above it is clear that the bottom row of 7.triangles is truncated to allow the done to be flat at the bottom. When we started building the domes we began with these pieces and placed then alternating using one and then the other keeping the bottom ‘out lin downward. An inner plastic dome was cut to the sa equilateral triangles, where each pentagon is made up of five isosceles triangles) but the bolt holes were drilled just slightly closer together of the outer pieces. This accounts for the smaller size of the I have provided insight into to the shell of the dome here only. T have said nothing of doors, windows, ventilation, lighting eto. But these parte are fitted no differently than in any other house around the country and thus proves of little interest to planners or researchers. Communal buildings Our main communal buildings are built with more longevity in mind and required levelling of the ground. Their foundations are simple blocks resting on subsoil. In the case where the ground has been levelled, the land may differ after removal of the structure. But this is of little consequence on a bog that can regenerate back to its natural state within a short space of time. ‘The current bath houses have been built on platforms made from joists sitting on stones on the subsoil exposed by the levelling process. There is minimal insulation in the building, so they are not energy efficient due to heat logs, although the structures serve their purpose very well. (the meditation centre ie both a visitor centre and a research facility)‘The Community's meditation centre has much greater thermal efficiency than the bath houses, and was built to make the space more functional for recreation, running courses, visitor hosting and centre for consciousness studies by our resident members. It has a geodesic done similar in shape to the dwelling houses, and is approximately 60 feet wide x 21 feet tall at its highest point, (Connanity’s laboratory used for experiments) Our laboratory has been built on a platform made from upright wooden posts ariven into the ground supporting joist beams and floorboards. The main structure is built from wood 25 feet wide x 60 feet long and clad in shingles painted with bitumen. The south face of the structure contains multiple reclaimed windows. There is minimal insulation, although the structure allows for passive solar heating thanks to its black exterior surfaces. Its shape and size differs considerably from the dwelling houses @ roof whose apex is high enough to accommodate a second floor a herbarium to grow specialized plants, Conclusion ‘This document was never meant to be a detailed guide on how to build alternative homes. Rather I wrote this with the intention of making a summary of the structures built on the Kilmatogh bog lands to comply with 9local planning authority regulations and to provide an account of my experience with these structures for other makers and alternative living enthusiasts who may want to set up similar communities in the future. I was also hoping to make geodesic domes more approachable and less esoteric. The buildings at Kilmatogh have been a fantastic journey for all those living in them and for the visitors to have come here over the years. Our structures are always of great interest to people who share our Community's ideals. These include mainly people interested in alternative ways of living and also students, artists, and fringe scientists. They are built in such a way that should our Community in Kilmatogh co to an end, the structures can be dismantled and the ground returned to a natural non-inhabited state. They provide the domestic needs of well over sixty people, as well as providing infrastructure for running educational courses and training seminars for Community members and visitors alike. All these reasons makes the: ential for the successful operation of the Community here in Kilmatogh. While I have made everything sound simple, there were unfor complications during construction periods. For example, on the first occasion of building a dwelling, we built the plastic inner shell first, which meant that when the outer shell was put together we couldn't fit the inner shell inside it. We had to lift the outer dome fifteen feet off the ground to position it over the inner shell and lower it down so the inner would sit comfortably inside the outer shell. That was a tremendous hardship! Then we realized we completely forgot to put the insulation foam-boards between the inner shell and outer shell and had to do it all over again. 10MAI, UB uOqeAS|A MS uogeae|a 3N uoqens|y 3} 13 MN uoqen|| lesa! NE Elevation NW Elevation ~~SE Elevai Wood Store | Wood StoreNE Elevation NW Elevation ‘SW Elevation SE Elevationuonens|y 3S MAI, UCINW Elevation Plan View1-69 Davlity A, Meditation Centre B. eabretory C. Storage Shed