Low-Cost Survival Shelter Earthship

Because of their shape and the strength of the materials they are made from, Earthships can be built as incredibly robust survival shelters. This example is currently under construction in Te Puke (New Zealand), where local organisation Fruit of the Pacific is helping to teach seasonal kiwifruit workers from Vanuatu, how to construct these survival shelter Earthships. Many of the workers were affected by Cyclone Pam, which tragically killed 24 people in Vanuatu and left thousands without homes.

The survival shelters design has been based on similar projects that took place in the Philippines and in Fiji (pictured above – photo courtesy of Biotecture Planet Earth). These shelters are incredibly strong and low-cost to construct making them perfect as community projects in the islands to help build resilience from natural disasters such as cyclones.

The Te Puke Earthship build is a great example of what people can achieve when they come together for a common goal. We look forward to catching up with the team again once the shelter is complete.