Category: Europe

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SIREWALL

SIREWALL® has updated ancient rammed earth processes with a new global standard for durable, healthy and energy efficient buildings and spaces. SIREWALLs are Stabilized, Insulated, Rammed Earth walls. SIREWALL homes and buildings are constructed with a matrix of local soils strengthened with rebar and a small percentage of cement that surround a core of insulation. A typical SIREWALL is 18? to 24? thick, with 4? of rigid insulation hidden in the centre of the wall. From a dream home or cottage to a winery or cultural centre, SIREWALL builds beautiful walls with timeless distinction.

SIREWALL, the creation of an acclaimed local green building company and recipient of a Governor General’s Medal in Architecture, will be offering introductory courses on Stabilized, Insulated, Rammed Earth (SIRE) this spring and summer.

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Martin Rauch Builds His Own Home

Notable rammed earth building Martin Rauch, with the assistance of architect Roger Boltshauser recently completed his own rammed earth home in Schlins, Austria. The house which was finished 2008 reacts in its position and in its character directly to the topographic gradient of the slim plot and its genuine landscape context: A monolithic structure becomes a sculptural bloc, an abstract and artificial nature pressed upward from the underlying earth.

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University of Bath Research Studentships in Earth Architecture

The University of Bath Department BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials in the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering is offering Research Studentships that include:

Humidity buffering using earth masonry: During experimental studies, earth masonry has been shown to buffer humidity in buildings by reducing peaks experienced under normal usage (e.g. in shower rooms). This has potential to improve occupant health and reduce ventilation (and therefore energy demand) in buildings but the effect has not been fully qualified. This project aims to quantify how earth masonry materials can buffer humidity in buildings. Supervisor Dr Andrew Heath

Grouting mix design for historic mud brick masonry: Established grouting methods are available for stone and brick masonry set in lime mortar. However there is at present little work on unfired and low-fired brick masonry set in predominantly mud mortar with rubble cores. This type of masonry constitutes a large proportion of historic buildings worldwide.The efficacy of grouting historic masonry to reinstate integrity or enhance structural capacity, especially against lateral loading, has been proved by various researchers. The project will research ad hoc grouting mixes for traditional mud set masonry by investigating lime and soil mixes. Experimental work will be carried out by means of test walls. Non destructive testing techniques will be also used in collaboration with a well established testing house and on site trials will be conducted in the latter stage of the study. Supervisors Dr Dina D’Ayala and Dr Enrico Fodde.

Projects to start: October 2009

The studentships:
The studentships cover home/EU tuition fees, a standard stipend (currently £12,940 (tax free) per annum), and research expenses. In addition, departmental teaching assistantships, up to a value of £1500 p.a. are also available. Overseas students are eligible to apply, but will be expected to pay the difference between home/EU and overseas fees (currently around £8,000 p.a.) and have an English Language Qualification, IELTS of not less than 7 or its equivalent.

The successful candidate will join the BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials in the Faculty of Engineering & Design. In the recent Research Assessment Exercise 70% of staff at the University of Bath’s Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering were graded as internationally leading or internationally significant in their field. This translates as 6th place nationally in the Built Environment Unit of Assessment, and maintains the equivalent of our top 5 rating achieved in the 2001 RAE.

The University of Bath is located within the UNESCO World Heritage City of Bath.

Applications:
Candidates should hold a first or upper second class honours degree in Civil Engineering, Materials Science or a related subject.

For further information please contact: Prof. Pete Walker, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, University of Bath, Claverton Campus, Bath BA2 7AY; Email: p.walker@bath.ac.uk; Tel: 01225 386646.

Applications should be submitted by post or on-line. For further information on the application process please contact Emma Greeley (Email: e.s.j.greeley@bath.ac.uk; Tel: 01225 386908) or visit the university’s Graduate Office web pages: http://www.bath.ac.uk/grad-office/.

The deadline for receipt of applications is the 31st of March 2009.

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Jean Dethier Lecture: Building with Raw Earth: An Eco-Revolution?

The organizers of the 2009 People, Land and Property lecture, sponsored by BDO Stoy Hayward, are delighted to invite you to the lecture, “Building with Raw Earth: An Eco-Revolution? The Sustainable Future of a Millenial Tradition: Housing, Urban Development and Land Uses” by Jean Dethier.

The lecture will be held Tuesday, February 17th, 2008 in Fitzwilliam College Auditorium, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge CB3 0DG at 5:00 pm, followed by a drinks reception. For more information contact mmcy100@cam.ac.uk

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LEHM Conference Proceedings

The Dachverband Lehm e.V. announces the availability of conference proceedings from the 4th and 5th International Conferences on Building with Earth from 2004 and 2008.

LEHM 2008: Conference proceedings

The conference proceedings were published on the occasion of the 5th international conference on building with earth in Leipzig. The book contains all papers and posters presented at the conference in both English and German languages. Central topics include earth building norms and regulations, education and training in earth building, current research into building with earth, information networks in earth building, current problems in earthen building practice and new projects and exemplary conversions.

Published by: Dachverband Lehm e.V., 288 pages with illustrations
ISBN 978-3-00-025956-2, October 2008, German and English

Price: 50 Euro + P&P

LEHM 2004: Conference proceedings

The conference proceedings were published on the occasion of the 4th international conference on building with earth in Leipzig. The book contains all papers and posters presented at the conference in both English and German languages. Central topics include UNESCO world heritage, earth in building conservation, new projects and reducing the seismic vulnerability of earthen buildings.

Published by : Dachverband Lehm e.V., ISBN 3 00 014864 7, 324 pages with illustrations, October 2004, German and English.

Price: 35 Euro + P&P

The conference proceedings can be ordered directly from the Dachverband Lehm e.V.

Dachverband Lehm e.V.
Postfach 1172
99409 Weimar
Germany

dvl@dachverband-lehm.de
www.dachverband-lehm.de/shop/index_gb.html

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Haus Ihlow

Berlin based architect Eike Roswag’s Haus Ihlow is a renovation and addition to a historic stone barn using rammed earth built in the country side near Berlin. It is the first load bearing housing project in Germany since the 1950s. The construction is based on the “Lehmbauregeln”, but build with surprisingly thin walls (30cm) and large openings for windows.

The house has passive solar heating with a 60 m2 hot water collector and can store 4,000 liters of water supplemented by a wood fire place, connected to a floor and wall heating system. The owners use rain water for toilets and do wastewater treatment before draining the water on their own ground. Roswag’s firm, werk_A has many other projects in rammed earth.