Book Description

Rammed earth walling is a beautiful, durable building material with a long and successful tradition in the UK and
around the world. Many rammed earth and rammed chalk buildings erected in England in the nineteenth century are still in use today.

For modern construction it offers a high-quality and sustainable building method suitable for a
range of external and internal applications. Often using local materials, rammed earth buildings have
characteristic textures and colours, with structural and thermal properties suited to a range of situations. Until
now there has been no authoritative guidance on the use of rammed earth in the UK.

This book presents
state-of-the-art practical guidance on material selection, construction, structural design, architectural detailing,
maintenance and repair of rammed earth. It contains numerous photos of rammed earth buildings in the UK,
Europe, the USA, Africa and Australia. The book includes a list of contact addresses, a glossary and a bibliography.

Appendices cover:
Physical properties of rammed earth;
Specification for rammed earth works;
Methodology for checking the structural resistance of rammed earth walls;
Rammed earth stabilised with cement.


The aim of the book is to inform,
develop and encourage the use of rammed earth wall construction for housing and other low- and medium-rise
buildings. The guidance has been derived from extensive testing and research at the University of Bath, funded
by the Department of Trade and Industry’s Partners in Innovation programme. 156 pages.