What a breath of fresh air to recently accomplish, with the landscaping and design team, a Rammed Earth course in Norfolk, UK.
I've researched rammed earth construction for over a year now and enjoy every aspect of the diversity, such an ancient building method has to offer to my garden design service through the county of Devon, Cornwall and UK, should my services be requested further afield.
Imagine the shape, size, colour, contemporary aesthetics the material has to offer when used with a creative mind and excellent craftsmanship.
The carbon footprint is minimal too, as we only use local recycled materials, for example, crushed glass, washing machine front door bowls, wine and beer bottles. Infact if people continue to recycle their waste then I'll continue to create and install bespoke, Eco friendly, contemporary gardens through out the Southwest of UK.
Have I lost my mind? It's only mud will it wash away? Well, yes to the first and No to the other!!.... here's why.
Brief history....
Evidence of the early use of rammed earth has been seen in Neolithic archaeological sites of the Yangshao culture and the Longshan culture in China along the Yellow River dating back to 5000 BCE. By 2000 BCE, the use of rammed earth architectural techniques was commonly used for walls and foundations in China.
What is Rammed Earth?
Rammed earth, also known as pisé de terre or simply pisé, is a type of construction material. It is an age old building method that has seen a revival in recent years as people seek low-impact building materials and natural building methods.
It is a simple construction technique based on compacting earth between form-work to make a homogeneous mass walling or structure for your garden design or home interior.
The construction process consists of creating the form-work to the shapes and sizes required, compressing a damp mixture of earth that has suitable proportions of silica, clay and sub-soil into an external shutter that molds the shape of form-work section creating a solid wall of earth.
Traditional stabilisers such as animal blood or lime were used to stabilise the material, but cement has been the stabiliser of choice for modern times. After compressing the earth the wall frames can be immediately removed and require covering after construction to dry and harden.
Using rammed earth as a construction material greatly reduces the amount of CO2 released during the construction of the building.
The manufacture of cement requires the burning of limestone and produces CO2 as a waste product. Around 10% of global CO2 emissions are from the cement industry alone.
When using soil taken directly from the site, there is no transport requirement, directly reducing CO2 emissions and taking vehicles off the road. Using rammed earth we use 5% cement stabiliser and material local to you.
Rammed earth is relatively labour intensive - about 60 percent of the cost of rammed earth construction is labour, The same square meterage of walling can be constructed at about the rate a bricklayer could lay a brick wall.
For more information on what we can do for you and your garden please contact me.
Comments
Pip, then you'll understand my excitement towards this new venture, website well underway, the site wont be your standard site either, I'm all in!
Once the rain stops I'll have a rammed earth project complete and cant wait to heavily market on the www.Eco-Maze.co.uk site.