Sandbag Building Technology 

 

Background:

• Various sandbag building systems have been used over the last 100 years or so, originating in the military. 

• In 2003 Eco Design Architects developed their own generic design for using sand bags in conjunction with timber ladder frames for use in the Twin Streams Staff housing project. 

 

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Benefits: 

• Allows for use of freely available local and scrap material. 

• Is a very solid durable construction 

• Has excellent thermal and acoustic properties 

• Involving Community:  Allows for the setting up of a series of Micro-enterprises with use of local material, i.e.  

• Harvesting timber poles 

• Treating timber with non-toxic timber preservative 

• Collecting sand/rubble and salvaging small dimensioned timbers 

• Timber ladder manufacture 

• Bag manufacture. 

• Cost effective as the simplicity of construction means one can used unskilled labour to build the walls. 

 

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Technical information:

• Aside from the foundations, this system requires no cement or binder and besides sand, the bags can be filled with clay, rubble or gravel. 

• Bags are dry-packed between timber ladder frames, which are positioned vertically at approx 1,0m centres and reinforced with a timber ring beam plate at 2,4m height. 

• The clay and lime plastered walls provide superior insulation when compared to regular concrete block construction. 

 

 

Company Track record/examples of work:

• House Olivier, Kromme Valley Farm Clan William, 2019  

• Office Renovations – Eco Design Offices 2014 and 2018 

• House by Marion Whiteman, Bathurst, Eastern Cape 2012. 

• Jozini Lodge, Swaziland, 2010 

• Building system design used for 8 chalets for West Coast National Park by Studio 44, 2008

• Twinstreams Environmental Centre Staff Housing – Mtunzini, KZN, 2004. This project was awarded the Sustainable Building Best Practice Award for Africa at the Africa regional Sustainable Building Conference held at Speer 2004.