Back in 2015, two artists, Ella Good and Nicki Kent, unearthed an incredible idea to build a Martian house on Earth. They decided to do this project mainly because, at that time, people were curious about exploring the Martian climate and sending humans there. Later on, after doing significant research on the project, the two artists met with the Spacecraft Systems Engineer, Professor Lucy Berthoud, in 2017. She liked the idea as well and joined the team. The main purpose behind implementing this project is to make humans aware of the difficulties of the Martian climate on Earth through this house and give them a general awareness on how to survive in a world of scarce resources and increase their endurance in harsh climatic conditions.
It turned out that the team received a small amount of funding as well from Edward Marshall Trust so that they can work jointly with the architect firm in the form of collaboration. Furthermore, another scientist, Dr. Bob Myhill, also collaborated with the team in 2018 and started working on the conceptual design of the project. Just after one year of teamwork, in 2019, the design was ready for demonstration. Then, in 2020, the Bristol City Council finally gave the planning grant to the team who then started working practically on the project.
As the project reaches the construction phase, SCF construct came on board in 2021 and started hiring construction companies in order to provide labor and material for the project. Hence, the project was finally accomplished with the help of two British architecture and design firms known as “Hugh Broughton Architects” and “Pearce+”. It has to be noted that Hugh Broughton has also designed many space stations in Antarctica. This incredible Martian house has now been constructed in Bristol, United Kingdom, and made its first public appearance on August 28, as projected by the Fast company.
Hugh Broughton, the founder of Hugh Broughton Architects, said, “I’m sure there are technical holes, or someone would say ‘the rocket dimensions are this, and your house wouldn’t pack in like that,’ but that’s not the aim. It aims to, as closely as possible, represent what a house on Mars would be like, but actually in the process to provoke questions about our own lives on Earth.”
On the other hand, Ella Good and Nicki Kent expressed their opinions on the Martian house by saying, “We’re building a Martian House. It’s going to be a real-life house that you can step into and imagine how we might live on another planet. “It’s often said we have more technology in our pockets nowadays than took NASA to the moon. This project is about seeing what is possible and how far we can get with what we have here and now. Our house will be built by many people coming together and sharing their knowledge, skills, and enthusiasm – working with space scientists, engineers, architects, and the local community.”