Rammed Earth House

The brief looked to root the house in its landscape without overwhelming what was left of the brickworks. The existing building pads and traces dictated the plan, so the new wings grow from what stood before rather than imposing a new order. The rural setting, exposure to weather and the protected landscape meant the building needed to work with the heavy clay soil, meet strict energy performance targets and still read as a natural extension of its setting.

Webb Yates provided full civil and structural engineering design for the project, working with Jonathan Tuckey Design and rammed earth specialists Lehm Ton Erde. The structure is led by the unstabilised rammed earth walls, compacted in lifts using a blend of clay dug from site, recycled brick and concrete from the demolition, and local gravel. These sit on a raised plinth and carry lightweight timber roofs that span between the earth volumes to form the new courtyard wings.

Because unstabilised earth is vulnerable to weathering, the detailing does most of the protection. Deep eaves push water away from the wall faces, and lime mortar erosion checks are set at intervals so the outer fines can erode in a controlled way. As the early weathering exposes larger aggregate, the surface gradually hardens until the erosion rate tails off. Civil work dealt with the poor permeability of the clay ground, with a SuDS approach that uses channel drains, gullies and rainwater downpipes to move runoff to a nearby pond.

The house settles into the old brickworks pattern while meeting modern performance standards, allowing the landscape and the material itself to shape how it stands and weathers.