New Colony Construction

[BackworldTraveller]

Assuming that the atmosphere is breathable, what architectural style do you think would be most appropriate in a new colony? I have 4 suggestions from my colleagues: "Converted Transport Containers", "Pre-fabs", "Adobe" (if it's dry enough) and "Whatever the local equivalent of wood is".

Any other suggestions?

 

[Rigel Stardin]

Dry wall construction (stacked rocks without mortar), and sod.

 

[Condottiere]

Time and energy available.

Hole in the ground worked for Hobbits.

 

[mike wightman]

Reconfigurable containers for the basics to last you until the genetically modified coral grow you all the structures you have programmed them to.

 

[whartung]

Depends on the capital invested in the structures. Prefab is probably too bulky to ship, but doesn't mean you can't ship "ikea" houses, flat-pak "kits".

That said I think initially you'd have something modular. 1 kit to make a 75 sq meters, but you can bolt them to together to make 150m^2 buildings. Something along that line. So, likely some kind of modular wall structure to make boxy buildings. Depending on the weather, they can remain flat roof, or perhaps add in a little slope with some drains just to keep water from pooling.

Have separate doors, but you just cut holes in to the walls to mount them. Windows can be similar.

You could reuse containers, but containers are actually pretty lousy for housing. Great for storage, maybe small workshops.

dry wall and stick "lumber" (could be wood, could be metal, could be plastic) is very space efficient, if you have the skilled labor to do the assembly. But it's more labor intensive.

 

[Peleliu]

doesn't mean you can't ship "ikea" houses, flat-pak "kits".

Imagine standing in an open field surrounded by your new Ikea ready-to-assemble flat pack city:

"Ok, who has the wrench?"
"What wrench?"

 

[Rigel Stardin]

If we are going genetically modified route, why not something like bamboo but much larger. It's high grow rate (up to 36 inches per day) you could either use it as a building material or if 'real modified' have it grow, say 20' feet round forty feet high. In a 13 1/2 days, you could have a four story building?

 

[Spinward Flow]

what architectural style do you think would be most appropriate in a new colony?

ISRU = In-Situ Resource Utilization
Standard containers are used to bring in the 3D building printers that use ISRU to build the homes (just add power and materials).

If you need to build the houses "dirt cheap" ... it's best to make them out of dirt.
Go figure, eh?

 

[BackworldTraveller]

Reconfigurable containers for the basics to last you until the genetically modified coral grow you all the structures you have programmed them to.

Very Larry Niven!

 

[BackworldTraveller]

If we are going genetically modified route, why not something like bamboo but much larger. It's high grow rate (up to 36 inches per day) you could either use it as a building material or if 'real modified' have it grow, say 20' feet round forty feet high. In a 13 1/2 days, you could have a four story building?

And a decade later, you have a major source of bamboo shoots and an ecological disaster?

 

[BackworldTraveller]

Imagine standing in an open field surrounded by your new Ikea ready-to-assemble flat pack city:

"Ok, who has the wrench?"
"What wrench?"

What do you mean "The roofs weren't shipped"?

 

[BackworldTraveller]

ISRU = In-Situ Resource Utilization
Standard containers are used to bring in the 3D building printers that use ISRU to build the homes (just add power and materials).

If you need to build the houses "dirt cheap" ... it's best to make them out of dirt.
Go figure, eh?

Here that's known as "Cob" and has been used for thousands of years. The printer was Human. They material was found to be stronger if you added straw and manure! Mud-brick has also been used for many years. The trick is to get it to stay dry!

The general consensus seems to be that an IY1105 colony would look so different to any ancient human settlement with only local materials and vernacular architecture - or would bring tech for posher stuff once those mines/plants get going - or both!

 

[Grav_Moped]

And a decade later, you have a major source of bamboo shoots and an ecological disaster?

That's where the army of genetically-engineered Mega-Pandas comes in.

...then you have to deal with the army of genetically-engineered Mega-Pandas. Ok, maybe the idea needs a bit more work...

 

[atpollard]

And a decade later, you have a major source of bamboo shoots and an ecological disaster?

Since most plants started out toxic to humans (like Bananas) and were cultivated variants that became food crops, a non-toxic invasive wiping out the toxic local flora is not an “ecological disaster” … it is “ecological terraforming”.

 

[atpollard]

For large scale construction, shipping a concrete manufacturing plant is probably a good initial investment in pipes and bridges and weatherproof buildings and landing pads and roads. If the world has water, it probably has sand. If you have fusion, you have power and heat. You just need calcium (found in limestone), silicon (found in sand) and rocks (aggregate for strength).

 

[atpollard]

Any other suggestions?

Since this is traveller, drag an iron meteorite into orbit, and fabricate steel parts using fusion and simple “printing”, casting or forging. Then lower steel structures into place and paint to prevent rust.

 

[BackworldTraveller]

And where the local environment is missing a breathable atmosphere due to pressure or lack of oxygen, how would that change the material choice? A lot of building technology relies on porosity and oxygen availability. Both potentially tricky.

And too much oxygen could be worse

 

[Spinward Flow]

And where the local environment is missing a breathable atmosphere due to pressure or lack of oxygen, how would that change the material choice? A lot of building technology relies on porosity and oxygen availability. Both potentially tricky.

And too much oxygen could be worse

At that point, you're going subterranean for your building program.
Call in The Boring Company™.

 

[whartung]

how would that change the material choice?

Early on you're simply obliged to ship in all the materials until a local manufacturing base can get started. Then you'll likely start shipping in raw materials until local resource extraction can fill the need.

Or, scuttle large ship hulls and build tubes between them.

 

[Timerover51]

And where the local environment is missing a breathable atmosphere due to pressure or lack of oxygen, how would that change the material choice? A lot of building technology relies on porosity and oxygen availability. Both potentially tricky.

And too much oxygen could be worse

If that is the case, unless there is a very compelling reason to put in a colony, I find another planet to settle. The up-front capital cost is going to be too high. If an asteroid belt, I start by using a dedicated barracks ship and gradually erect pressure-proof buildings. The boring may or may not come later, depending on the asteroid composition.