The Cobtun House, Worcestershire, built of mud, straw and corrugated iron, and designed by Associated Architects, has scooped this year’s Royal Institute of British Architects Sustainability Award.
Earthen architecture in Iran and Central Asia Conference
Earthen architecture in Iran and Central Asia: its conservation, management, and relevance to contemporary society, a celebration of the life and work of Robert Byron, will be held at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 12-13th November 2005. The aim of the conference is to bring together individuals involved in the conservation and management of the archaeological and architectural legacy of earthen architecture in Iran and Central Asia, to discuss current approaches, practical applications, new projects and the impact of work on local communities and contemporary society.
Rammed Earth at the Center for Alternative Technology
One of the largest environmental projects in the UK, with a lecture theatre’s walls built out of soil, has begun in mid Wales at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT).
Andy Goldsworthy’s Clay Wall
British environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy’s Clay Wall at the at the Ingleby Gallery 1998, Curve Gallery 1996-2000 and at Galerie Lelong 2000
In Situ
In Situ is a U.K. based rammed earth company devoted to rammed earth construction, consultancy and research.
Historical Earth Architecture at Durham
The University of Durham School of Engineering is examining investigative techniques and the structural behavior of Rammed Earth. They aim to combine knowlege of Structural Mechanics with numerical and Computer modelling, with work on soil mechanics, to help preserve Earthen Architecture.
Conference on Rammed Earth Construction
To coincide with launch of the new publication Rammed earth: design &
construction guidelines, a one-day conference on rammed earth construction
is to be held on Wednesday 9th February 2005 in the Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering at the University of Bath.
The conference will examine historic and modern use of rammed earth in the
UK and Europe, practical issues of construction applications, material
testing and selection, formwork and construction, engineering design,
architectural design and detailing, maintenance and repair of walls. The
workshop is open to architects, engineers, designers, building surveyors,
construction companies, property developers, researchers and interested
individuals.
Issues for discussion will include thermal performance, durability, material
strength, cement stabilisation, building control, quality testing and wall
finishes. Case studies from recent rammed earth projects in the UK and
Europe will be presented. Findings from recent research work will also be
outlined. The workshop will also include an exhibition and practical
demonstration of rammed earth construction.
Rammed earth: design & construction guidelines is the result of a DTi
sponsored research and innovation programme investigating the potential of
rammed earth for new construction.
Conference speakers include:
Martin Rauch, Baukunst GmbH
Lars Allan Palmgren, Architect
Rowland Keable, Insitu Rammed Earth Co. Ltd
Pat Borer, Architect
Gordon Pearson
Tom Morton, ARC Architects
Andy Simmonds, Simmonds-Mills Architect Builders
Mark Lovell, Mark Lovell Design Engineers
Jonathan Hines, Architype
Mark Swenarton, Architecture Today
Peter Trotman, BRE
Paul Ellis, Ecology Building Society
Joe Martin, JM Architects
Steve Goodhew, University of Plymouth
Peter Walker, University of Bath
To reserve a place please: email P.Walker@bath.ac.uk, telephone 01225
386646, or fax 01225 386691. Alternatively send your name and contact
details to Peter Walker, Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering,
University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK. Download the conference brief in .pdf format.
Preliminary programme:
Registration 8.30 AM
Opening presentations (Introduction; Historical bakcground; Applications;
Materials): 9.00-10.45 AM
Coffee break: 10.45-11.15 AM
Presentations (Construction; Design; Maintenance & Repair): 11.15 AM – 12.45
PM
Lunch: 12.45-2.00 PM
Presentations (Case studies I): 2.00-3.20 PM
Coffee break: 3.20-3.45 PM
Closing presentations (Case studies II; Research work) and discussion:
3.45-5.00 PM
Full day registration fee: £105.00
Concessionary registration fee: £80.00 (AECB members; full-time students)
Morning or afternoon half-day fee (without lunch): £65.00 (£50.00 conc.)
Registration includes a copy of the Rammed earth: design & construction
guidelines.
United Kingdom Earth Architecture
Despite the damp climate, there are thousands of earth buildings in the United Kingdom. The map above shows the concentration of earth buildings in the UK, some of which are over four hundred years old. Each region tends to have its own form of construction dependent on the nature of the materials available locally.
Chia-Church
Artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey are filling a deconsecrated church with grass, grown from seed embedded in clay which is plastered to the walls of the church. Watch the project as it developed week by week here, and read their diaries of how, and why, this extraordinary project is came to be.
United Kingdom Rammed Earth
Faculty from the Department Architecture & Civil Engineering at the University of Bath are developing rammed earth walling for UK housing construction. Their site includes a photo gallery of historic and contemporary rammed earth (and rammed chalk) projects in the United Kingdom.