North American Rammed Earth Builders Association

Table Of Content

• Rammed Earth Construction Techniques
• Circular Brick House with Rammed Earth Wall / AST 77 Architecten
• Additional menu
• Explore content
• Rainfall erosion test results
• Building up, packing down
• Jack Fruit Garden Residence / Wallmakers
• Earth Day: How a senator’s idea more than 50 years ago got people fighting for their planet

Below, we delve deeper into the foundational aspects of this enduring construction method. This article delves into the intricacies of rammed earth, its historical significance, benefits, challenges, and its evolving role in the world of modern architecture. By considering things like energy-efficient mechanicals, window orientation, and renewable energy sources, homes can be evaluated to meet the energy codes.

Rammed Earth Construction Techniques

Figure 15d shows the appearance of moss, which obviously grows outside the soil particles. 15a, as algal filaments grow in line with each other and form overlapping bonds, they intertwine with soil particles and form a spatial network structure on the soil surface. At the same time, the network structure is covered by a large amount of polysaccharide slime, making the soil surface smoother and more delicate.

Circular Brick House with Rammed Earth Wall / AST 77 Architecten

The client, Kiwa, is an agricultural organization aimed at introducing new processes to save water and resources in producing organic crops. Most building materials were sourced close to the building site, and the main technique is rammed earth, with the foundation constructed using limestone bricks. Its curved roof and patterned screen are characteristic of passive design, as the feature makes for better ventilation. Tucson Mountain Retreat, situated in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert, proves that architecture can be immersed in nature without devastating the environment. Built with desert soil, the rammed earth volumes emerge from the hillside like an outcropping of rocks. The thermal mass of the walls, openings oriented to maximize natural ventilation, and a 30,000-gallon rainwater harvesting system combine to create a habitable and sustainable desert dwelling.

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As with all alternative building methods, rammed earth comes with a small environmental impact. If you get soil directly from the site and the local area around you (especially the dug out soil from other building sites), it is hard to imagine a building material with less of a negative impact. Casa Candelaria is a guest house modeled after traditional Mexican haciendas, with four rammed earth volumes organized around a central patio. The use of rammed earth, a naturally abundant and thermally superior material, resulted in significant savings, both in construction costs and energy bills. The entire structure, from the façade’s parota wood shutters to the exposed ironwork between volumes, is an ode to simple and honest construction methods. The Earth House is a masterful juxtaposition of contemporary design and traditional Mexican construction.

(That’s roughly 1 percent of the state’s overall power generation in a year, or 5 percent of its solar generation.) Last year, the state did that in just the first eight months. They decided to teach themselves how to build houses using the most abundant material on earth – mud. They'd have fun, sharing whatever they learned with whoever wanted to come along for the ride. My own home’s foundation is of reinforced concrete that extends from 12 inches above ground to 24 inches below … our local splash and frost lines.

Aerecura uses test cylinders filled with rammed earth to measure psi prior to and during the build in order to meet engineering codes. They can be a combination of stick or timber-frame walls and rammed earth, as seen here, where sections of the second floor are straw-bale construction. It’s also possible to use CLT (cross-laminated timber) panel roofs. Wong regularly includes rammed earth for interior partition walls as well. When you build a sand castle, you pack dirt into buckets that will form the sand castle's structure.

The test was carried out using the Smart Lab diffractometer of Nikaku, Japan, with a working environment of 40kv-200 mA and an angular speed of 2 degrees per minute. Well, naturally, the more people involved, the quicker it goes. I built most of our house, single-handed, during World War II when I was already working eight hours a day, six days a week. By myself, I would set and fill a foundation form all in one Sunday. First of all find the right kind of soil … sandy, but not all sand (between 50% and 75% is OK).

Jack Fruit Garden Residence / Wallmakers

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Whenever you build such massive walls, you are going to be able to take advantage of something called thermal mass. Thermal mass is the ability of a material to absorb heat energy and then give it off at a later time. Materials with a high density (like earth, stone, and tile) will have a high thermal mass and can therefore absorb a ton of energy from a heat source (like the sun or a wood stove).

A diverse digital database that acts as a valuable guide in gaining insight and information about a product directly from the manufacturer, and serves as a rich reference point in developing a project or scheme. On North America's West Coast, a group of rebel women who, 10 years ago, chose to break free from a rigged economic and social system. They didn't take to the streets to lobby banks and governments to change their ways – they didn't have time for that.

Typically, walls dry and are done in 24 hours, and they have a load-bearing capacity on par with concrete. This technique, compacting successive layers of soil into temporary formworks, has been used in the construction of houses for millennia, and for good reason. Rammed earth walls, built with materials excavated on site, are durable, affordable and, most importantly, all natural. Today, as homeowners have become increasingly concerned with the impact of their houses on the environment, rammed earth has been making a welcome return. In this age of mind-bending parametric models and 3D printed structures, these simply built homes help bring architecture back down to earth.

Because of the slow rate at which the blocks are made and the cost of doing business, of renting a facility and paying skilled labor, we couldn’t produce the blocks for enough money to maintain profitability. Which is why we pivoted to the idea of a transportable block plant. Once you have the foundation in place, you can actually get to the rammed earth part. Others have been used for millennia and have proven themselves to stand the test of time. Every month we explore a topic in-depth through articles, interviews, news, and architecture projects. And, as always, at ArchDaily we welcome the contributions of our readers; if you want to submit an article or project, contact us.

Recycling efforts included repurposing some of the wooden formwork used in the construction on the interior. If you're visiting a rammed earth home in summer, you'll find the home to be nice and cool during the daytime, without the aid of an air conditioner or fan. If you're staying overnight, the home will begin to warm up as it cools down outside.