Rammed Earth is for Everyone!

If you're into rammed earth building, don't miss this blog: Rammed Earth is for Everyone. You can't beat the enthusiasm of that name! The site highlights rammed earth projects all around the world, offers nice Youtube and Flickr finds, and has a great selection of links in its sidebar. It's proprietor is a rammed earth consultant who shares both interesting technical information as well as an intriguing and thought provoking world view. Definitely worth a look if you're an earth building enthusiast and/or you find yourself pondering the nature of man's impact on the Earth on a regular basis.

Via Earth Architecture (of course!).

Rammed Earth Homes With SIREWALLs from Terra Firma Builders Ltd.

I've admired rammed earth homes for a long time, even though they're not really appropriate for the climate I live in. It's just that rammed earth walls are mesmerizing to look at. I get lost staring at the different layers of soil, in varying subtle shades of earth tone, flowing gracefully along along a wall. To my eye, rammed earth walls epitomize the very essence of natural beauty.

I can't think of any rammed earth builder that does it better than Terra Firma Builders Ltd. They have a way of crafting the most gracefully curved walls. Their designs blend with the surrounding landscape. Inside, massive earthen walls and sturdy timbers comfortably intertwine with delicate, artistic finishing. It's a totally unique aesthetic.










Terra Firma's website is fantastic. There's a wealth of images of their work in their portfolio. There's also a great explanation of why rammed earth is an effective, sustainable building solution.

Probably the most interesting thing I found on their site is that they use an unusual insulated rammed earth wall approach called SIREWALL (SIRE = Stabilized Insulated Rammed Earth). SIREWALL was developed by Meyer Krayenhoff, an environmental builder of over thirty years, who also founded Terra Firma. Here's an explanation from the SIREWALL site:

Stabilized, Insulated, Rammed Earth (SIRE) walls are made using rebar and insulation enveloped with the mass of 14 – 20 inches of rammed earth. This combination, along with SIREWALL®’s system for quality control and soil blending, builds walls that exceed current standards for energy efficiency and compressive strength. SIREWALL’s customizable forms refined over the last fifteen years by SIREWALL’s expert builders, work seamlessly with unique designs and modern finishes that have timeless appeal.

I always thought that would work. We've seen that concept applied to concrete walls, so why not rammed earth too? Actually, reading their FAQ, and noting that they're in Canada and do their building in British Columbia, I've learned that rammed earth can be a solution for climates other than hot, arid deserts, especially with the SIREWALL approach in place.

Note that Terra Firma builds complete homes only on their home turf. But they will build walls elsewhere, and let your builder finish the house. They also train and certify builders in the SIREWALL system, and offer design and consulting services. Wherever you are, whatever type of rammed earth project you might be considering, I think these would be the people to talk to.

I have new hope of living in a rammed earth house yet!

Image credits - Terra Firma site

Go Underground with Architect Malcolm Wells

When I was in middle school my science teacher, Mr. O'Leary, showed the class a film about an underground house (this was back in the '80s, with the really bad projectors and everything). The movie was all about how underground houses are not cold, dark, or wet. Rather, they can be very inviting and very energy efficient. In retrospect, Mr. O'Leary was a pretty cool guy, and I think now he showed us that film because he wanted to live in an underground house. Can't blame him.

In college I came across the work of architect Malcolm Wells. If you want to learn about underground houses, run - do not walk, to your nearest library and find one of his books. Wells has been a genuine pioneer and his work in underground or earth sheltered building, and passive solar design has inspired so many people for many years. He's done a ton of great books, full of his brilliant designs and illustrations. I used to keep checking this one out of the Purdue library, over and over. My name must have been on the book card twenty times by the time I graduated (yeah, back then they didn't just scan the ISBN number into the computer, you signed a little card in a pocket in the book's back cover, for you youngsters who've never heard of such a crazy thing).




Wells has done several notable homes, most famous of which is probably this one on Cape Cod. Lovely, isn't it? Wells is a beautiful artist. His books are filled with his wonderful sketches. Very inspiring.




I like his vision. Change from the sad old spec house (like the one I live in right now) to something natural, beautiful, and efficient.




Wells is really one of the greats. As far as natural housing goes, don't miss out on his work. Check out his website, and go find some of his books. You'll really like them, and you'll learn a lot.

Image credits - Malcolm Wells' site

Inspiration from Detroit's Past - Frank Lloyd Wright's Cooperative Homesteads Project

Okay. Confession time. No, I am not from California, or Oregon, or New York City. I'm not a trendy design professional, I'm not an architect, I don't come from a family of builders. Guess what I do for a living. C'mon - guess! Here it is: I'm an autoworker, and I live in Detroit.

Now, Detroit is not the pit that most people from other parts of the country think it is. The city has had a lot of rough times, true, but actually it's an alright place to live (I really appreciated this article in Dwell about Detroit). The weather is really nice here too. Kind of wet, with cold winters, but we really don't get too much snow and summertime is a dream. Spring and fall are both lovely. Actually, I grew up close to Ann Arbor, which is pretty groovy. It's where all the hippies go to engineering school, at U of M, although I went to Purdue, but anyway.

So yeah, I'm an autoworker. I don't work "on the line" or anything, but I am in the biz. My company makes car parts (darn good ones too!). And I live in the burbs of Detroit. And even though I've forever dreamed of moving to California I will always have a soft spot for my hometown.

And that's one reason I've always been fascinated by a certain Frank Lloyd Wright project from the late thirties / early forties, planned for Detroit, but never built. It's the Cooperative Homesteads Project. Wright and his team from Taliesin designed it for a coop formed of auto workers and teachers - idealists, consistent with the times (unions, socialism, progressives, artists, etc.). It was intended to offer quality but low cost housing these people could afford, in a planned community where they could return home from their factory jobs and then tend their shared gardens in Detroit's long summer evenings, growing much of their own food.




The project, was an experiment that was way ahead of its time. Not so much the community planning aspect, which is so of the era it is kind of cliche, but rather in its construction and aesthetic.

First of all, the homes were going to have rammed earth walls. That's right, rammed earth walls. Wright was experimenting with it at the time, and was going to use it in the project as a low cost wall system the future homeowners could erect themselves. Second, Wright employed earth berming to help further protect the walls, provide extra insulation, and block cold winter winds. A broad roof was planned to further shelter the earthen walls from Detroit's damp weather, and keep out summer sun.

Inside, the house had small bedrooms, one large main living space, built-in furniture, and a great hearth. Natural light came in from windows on both sides, and there was a bank of nice big floor-to-ceiling windows in the main living area. There was an attached shed/cellar for storing tools and vegetables from the garden. The homes look extremely livable, despite their compact size.





Ultimately, World War II intervened, and the project was abandoned. A few units were actually started, but never finished (apparently the yet unprotected walls literally washed away from exposure). It is sad, because for a small worker's home the design was truly modern and beautiful. A simple, modest home, but really sleek. I've always thought it was one of the coolest designs Wright had done. It appeals to my populist streak, but with high style.

In his wonderful book, The Natural House, Wright mentions the project, and commented that "the nature of the scheme is apropos to so much of the building problem in our country that it is on record here for what it may be worth." Sadly, I think not much has changed, and so I present the project here as an interesting example of elegant, thoughtful, paradigm challenging, affordable housing concept that should continue to inspire us.

I think the project is also discussed in the great book on Wright's Usonian Houses written by John Sergeant.

You can read a nice writeup on the project at the website of Aaron G. Green Associates Inc. Mr. Green was a student of Wright and worked on the project. Click here to jump straight to the Cooperative Homesteads page.

Image credits - Aaron G. Green Associates, Inc. site

Natural and Elegant Living in an EcoNest

If you want a truly green home take a look at the work of builder Robert Laporte, a pioneer in natural building, and his wife Paula Baker-Laporte, an architect and healthy home advocate. Together they teamed up to create the EcoNest Company, which delivers some of the most naturally elegant homes you will ever see.

The homes are crafted using traditional timber frame and clay/straw construction, methods researched and refined by Laporte over twenty five years. EcoNest construction uses only natural materials and the homes are very finely crafted. Non-toxic finishes are used throughout. The clay/straw walls, finished with natural plasters, breathe well and the design and construction of the homes make them very energy efficient. The walls have an R-24 insulation value, and perform even better than they are rated due to the thermal mass inherent in this type of construction. The houses all have a good "hat and boots" - generous roof overhangs and carefully designed foundations that protect the natural walls from the elements. The homes are strong, built to last, and they blend easily into the surrounding landscape.





EcoNest designs show great sensitivity to healthy living, both for the occupants and for the planet. They have a very organic feel, and many have an elegant and serene Japanese style. Probably the best word to describe the homes is "peaceful." Houses are sited carefully to harmonize with the land and they're modestly sized to keep a respectful footprint. They are always bright inside, flooded with natural light from excellent daylighting and careful window placement. Again, only non-toxic materials and finishes are used throughout.

Take a look at some EcoNest interiors:




Truly, these homes live lightly on the planet and make every effort to be healthy to live in, both in body and spirit. Each design is very personalized for the owners. They represent a high level of care in design and craftsmanship in construction. Though the building methods are literally old world, they're well proven and very properly done under the expertise of the EcoNest Company. There's no doubt that the house of the future can learn a lot from the past. If you want a very unique and natural home of the highest quality, an EcoNest could be for you.

Image credits - EcoNest Company site

Cool Rammed Earth House Wins Design Contest

A long while back, when natural homes first sparked my interest, one genre in particular that I was fascinated with was rammed earth. I spent a lot of time searching for articles on builder David Easton and the elegant earthen houses constructed by his firm, Rammed Earth Works. As far as sustainable and natural building methods go, I still find rammed earth highly appealing. If you live in an hot, arid climate I cannot really think of any better construction method. Unfortunately, though I've always wanted to live somewhere like that, I don't - I live in Michigan. Rammed earth isn't quite right for our wet and cold winters (though some form of earth construction could be), so I had filed rammed earth away for that "someday maybe" scenario.

Not too long ago, however, my interest in earth building was renewed when I came across a great blog called Earth Architecture. Dedicated to earthen construction, the site's title block proclaims "One half of the world's population, approximately three billion people on six continents, lives or works in buildings constructed of earth." It's a great blog, well done and packed with interesting examples of earth buildings of all types.

A recent post on Earth Architecture highlights a housing competition won by UNC Charlotte students who utilized rammed earth construction, solar panels, and great outdoor living spaces all wrapped up in a very elegant modern design. I really like the house. Definitely check out the original post on Earth Architecture for more details and links to the competition's site and info on UNCC's entry.

Here's the UNCC entry board:




My love of rammed earth construction is renewed!


Image credit - Casas del Quinto Sol competition site