Home for Life (iii)

His buildings are also ecologically sound in their use of materials and designed to enhance rather than spoil the surroundings: in some cases it would be appropriate to enclose them in the earth. Although he sees the environmental spin off as secondary, Dean holds strong views on the role of his structures within the environment. "For example, I love timber but would use it very sparingly in a house, even if it came from a renewable source. All kinds of architectural groups are calling their buildings environmentally friendly, but there isn't such a thing. You've hurt the environment by building on it. There is a concept in Feng Shui that we are spiritual gardeners."

These radical shapes required new building techniques and materials if they were not to remain art on the page. The key to their production is the use of gunnite, or sprayed concrete. A 1cm layer of plaster and hessian is laid over a reusable fibreglass mould of the interior of the room, divided into three or four pieces per room which are then assembled. One huge advantage of this technique is the short time it takes to assemble: as little as six hours to complete a one-storey four bedroom house. Wiring is then installed into this as yet delicate structure.

The strength comes when steel rods and gunnite are added, with pumice beads for insulation. A team of three to four people could "build" such a home within a day, adding ceramic vents, chimneys and spires to taste. The infrastructure, however, takes some three to four weeks to cure. The cost of producing a Dean house compares favourably with conventional units of similar specification. The process could save 10-20 per cent on materials alone.

A further 40-50 per cent can be saved on labour. In order to make these substantial savings there have to be moulds in existence. These moulds cost about a million pounds to produce. But, once made, they can be used to fabricate thousands of buildings.

Text © Evadne Lucas