The Bottle House

Here is a link to a report by Sam Olukoya about a fantastic building experiment happening in Nigeria: a house built from used plastic bottles! Not only is it a fascinating attempt at using alternative building materials, the structure also has a certain beauty about it. Not only that, the sand-filled plastic bottles that form the walls, insulate from the sun’s heat, keeping the rooms cool – so it’s practical too! Here’s what Sam Olukoya has to say,

Nigeria’s first house built from discarded plastic bottles is proving a tourist attraction in the village of Yelwa.

Hundreds of people – including government officials and traditional leaders – have been coming to see how the walls are built in the round architectural shape popular in northern Nigeria.

The bottles, packed with sand, are placed on their side, one on top of the other and bound together with mud.

“The whole world should come and look at it”

“I wanted to see this building for myself as I was surprised to hear it was built from plastic bottles,” said Nuhu Dangote, a trader who travelled from the state capital, Kaduna, to see the house.

“They were saying it in the market that it looks like magic, that you will be amazed when you see it, that is why I have come here to feed my eyes.

“The whole world should come and look at it.”

The real beauty of the house is its outside wall as the round bottoms of the exposed bottles produce a lovely design.

But for those behind the project, its environmental benefits are what are most important.

Read more about the story here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14722179