Right outside of Alingsås, in Simmenäs, Daniel and Karolina are building their straw bale house. Me and fellow Earth Lab members, Shea and David, take care of the design for a rammed earth wall which will be built in the center of the house. The wall of rammed earth will serve as a heat storage and a buffer for heat changes.

Building a rammed earth wall indoors is convenient as the issue of weather protection is already solved. The design challenges include connecting it with existing walls of straw bale and to a ceiling. The connection to the stove deserves aesthetical as well as structural consideration as that is the heart of the energy efficient building.

There will be a course held in relation to this project where you can come to learn and practise rammed earth building with us. The course takes place during the weekend 7-8 of march. Follow this link to sign up.

Daniel and Karolina have a blog (in Swedish) about the building of the house: http://halmhuset-korpaberget.blogspot.se/

Detail model (1:5). Studying the connection of rammed earth wall to existing structure.