Hugh Broughton Architects and Pearce+ are creating Martian House, an inflatable building in Bristol, England, that will explore what an extraterrestrial house for life on Mars could look like.

The house,  a collaboration with local artists as part of the ongoing art project Building a Martian House, is set over two levels, with the lower level designed to be built below the ground of the red planet.
The upper level will be made from a gold inflatable formwork, which is being developed by specialists Inflate.
Top and above: the Martian House will go on display in Bristol
On Mars it would be filled with regolith ? Martian soil and rock ? to reduce "cosmic and galactic radiation" although the team will have to settle for more terrestrial materials in Bristol. "Inflate are still developing the designs, but it will likely be a ripstop nylon fabric with a gold coating externally," architects Hugh Broughton and Owen Pearce told Dezeen.
"The gold is important for dissipating heat into the thinner atmosphere on Mars. For future use on Mars, a new polymer might need to be developed that is light enough to be transported to the red planet."
"The regolith within is set using biological solidification ? the regolith becomes bonded using microbes and forms essentially Martian concrete. The inflatable formwork remains as a seal and final surface."
One of the house's two levels will be below ground
Although it will be displayed above ground, Marti...