For many years I've looked into the strongest house we can build today. A long search for the right place I think is really worth the effort in the long run. As someone who is no longer young, alternative housing is often not as viable an option as when I was young. Considering that the aging is going to be the biggest in number in this country (USA), I would think that those doing alternative housing would consider this more. Tiny homes are great, except most have lofts. I decided for me that if I have a small, well designed home, that would work better than the typical tiny trailer style home.
To my conclusion the dome shape or round shape with roof tends to be the strongest.
I think it's good idea to get away from using too much wood or at least try to use "reclaimed" wood. Reclaimed is wood that has been used before and reused in a different place, such as wood from a barn taken and reused in a tiny home.
The tiny home, though not the strongest, is worth mentioning. It is because the human footprint is smaller and they are better built than a mobile home and many , if not most, are made on a trailer you can lug around like an RV. They are usually better built than an RV even, because apparantly, most RV's are not made for all seasons. Tiny homes are also designed well and at least designed to how you live as a person, which is very important in design.
I basically was looking into Monolithic Domes as done by David South. You can find those here, http://www.monolithic.org/
They use concrete. More specifically "shotcrete" which has small pebbles of styrofoam (or at least similar substance) in the concrete. It still uses less concrete than conventional houses, though it may not look like it, since it is the shell of entire structure. It's very strong and has been tested. Hurricane, fire, tornado, bullet resistant. I've read lots of stories from the homeowners of their strength and it's no joke, super strong. My issue with them is the appearance. I like the dome on the outside, but don't like interior layout. Doesn't flow well and has awkward angles that I find are a waste of space.
In a dome you will have some wasted space, but if thought out well enough, you will be able to make is usable.
Cost is same as regular house, sometimes slightly more, but it pays for itself once built, because utilities go waaaaaay down in this structure. Windows look awful from outside most of the time. I don't know if it's because it cost to much to place the windows in a frame that melds into the dome or it's just impossible to do with this build. Nonetheless, you could even put a partial shell of a dome with cutouts to shelter an existing interior with straight walls and have a more conventional home that way, basically placing a square inside a dome shell, but it likely won't be quite as strong, though hard to say, since I haven't seen anyone do that.
Deltec homes are also extremely strong and well built and you can have it built with a team, put up in relatively short time. However, lots of wood goes into these and regular plaster board walls that we use, it would bother me unless I built small, which they do have! It's a conveniant way to build and the company makes it easier for those wishing to go this route. Beautiful homes and has small straight walls, so many interior items such as cabinets and such can be flush against the wall. You can look at them here: http://www.deltechomes.com/
I liked the look of Earthbag Adobe homes. Google "earthbag house" to see a pics. However, it is super duper labor intensive and you need to keep that plaster going or you will have water damage if it's a dome. Conventionally style built earthbag homes work too and you can make a round house with roof added on top. You can find out more about them here: http://www.earthbagbuilding.com/
After more study, I concluded this style home can be built everywhere and Nepal has been through a couple of earthquakes with them with little to no damage. However, it isn't being done here in the States on a scale that tiny homes are. And I think they are best built in desert regions, where they originated from. I think for a quick build, you'd need at least ten people doing it full on or at least five. If you have no access to labor and/or can't afford to pay a team, it makes it a more difficult build. The walls cannot just be nailed into, you need to insert pieces of wood into the walls for things like pictures. You have some trade offs that are fine as long as it's what you are looking for. Earthbag is strong , just like Monolithic Dome homes. I really like them and still do, BUT, I think I've finally found what I'm looking for.
Aircrete Dome homes are new as far as I know. Aircrete is not new. They build alot of conventional housing and buildings with the stuff, but in dome arena, it's new. It is cement mixed with foam, like dishwashing detergent. You can make bricks with the stuff and shape it anyway you want practically. The bricks have some give to them that cement does not, you hit a cement brick and it crumbles, but the aircrete brick pushes inward. It's not to say that it doesn't crumble , but less so if the mixture is correct. You can nail into it. Still strong, though I don't know how it is with bullets nor do I know HOW strong. But the dome shape to this product is just beautiful. And functional. You do have to buy some small machines, but once the mixture is made and dried, (overnight they claim) you can have a house so much faster than the others. The machines are minimal, probably would cost about the same as building an earthbag house. For me, it fits perfectly. You can view them here: http://www.domegaia.com/
Happy househunting!
