Historic rammed earth

Rammed earth is a simple construction technique where earth is compacted between formwork to make a homogeneous mass wall. It has recently become popular as a sustainable building material. Few realise the full extent of historic rammed earth construction and the varied techniques used in the past. This website shows examples of historic rammed earth around the world, with studies of many sites in Spain, India, Nepal and Morocco.

This website grew out of my PhD research at the University of Durham. I carried out research into fundamentals mechanisms and analysis techniques which can be used when looking at earth buildings. Complex soil models have been used to explain the behaviour of rammed earth, and novel analysis strategies developed to enable better understanding of historic structures.

Rammed earth is a sustainable construction material, and this website shows how rammed earth can be sucessfully designed and used in modern construction.