Rammed Earth 

 

Background: 

• Rammed earth dates back as far as 5000 BC where it was used commonly in China.  

• Rammed earth is still a common building material in parts of North Africa, like Yemen and Morocco.  

• This technology became very popular in parts of France in the 1700’s where it became known as  Pisé de Terre as well as in the USA in the early 1800’s. 

• Rammed earth was widespread in Zimbabwe after the 2nd world war. 

• In 2012 the SADC Bureau for the Harmonization of Standards adopted the Zimbabwe code for rammed earth Construction for all SADC countries. 

• Many buildings exist nowadays in all climatic regions of the world. 

 

​

Benefits:  

• This material is very durable.  

• Offering very good levels of thermal comfort. 

• Materials can often be sourced from the site itself saving on transport costs.  

• A raw off-shuttered wall gives a smooth beautiful finish itself and these days is typically left without further plastering or painting. 

 

​

Technical information:  

• A formwork is first built, usually out of wood or plywood, to act as a mould for the desired shape. 

• A moist mixture of clay, sand & gravel is poured into the formwork in layers of 10-15cm & is compacted by ramming.  

• Rammed earth using re-bar, wood or bamboo reinforcement can prevent failure caused by earthquakes or heavy storms. 

• Without mechanical tools rammed earth construction can be very time consuming. 

• This method of construction lends itself to high levels of mechanization and can be done very speedily, however it requires extensive testing at the beginning.  

 

​

Company Track record/examples of work: 

• House Klipspringer, Wild Rivers Estate, Hoedspruit, Mpumalanga, 2020-2023  

• House Botes, Agte Paarl, Western Cape 2014. 

• OR Tambo Narrative & Enviro Centre – Leeupan, Johannesburg, for Oddessy Architects and the Ekurhuleni Municipality, 2010 – 2012