by Peter McIntosh | Feb 23, 2017 | Adobe, Alternative building, Alternative energy, Cape Town, City of Cape Town, Clay, Cob, Compressed Earth Brick (CEB), Delft ECD, Early Childhood Development centre, Earthen Schools, Ecobricks, Guest post, Hybrid building, Living Sustainably, Local materials, Long Way Home, Mud brick, Natural building, Natural building methods, Natural mortar mixes, Natural plasters, Passive Solar Design, Peter McIntosh, Qala Phelang Tala, Rammed Earth, Strawbale, Sustainable building, Sustainable human settlements, Thermal performance, Tyre building
In Delft, an impoverished township on the outskirts of the Cape Flats, local government is changing its approach to building early childhood development centres (ECDs) with a pioneering project showcasing a hybrid of natural building methods and up-cycled waste...
by Peter McIntosh | Nov 17, 2016 | Q&A, Rammed Earth, Sustainable building
Otto cottage treads very lightly on a pristine site and it restores our ancient connection to nature in its reconciliation with the site, from which the house is made. It recycles its energy and water and waste, creating a space for regenerative conscious living.
by Peter McIntosh | May 23, 2016 | Guest post, Local materials, Natural building, Natural building methods, Rammed Earth, Sustainable building, Uncategorized
Rammed earth construction in South Africa has generally been stigmatised as a substandard and primitive building construction method reserved ‘for the poor’. Yet it is now gaining popularity for community social projects, as well as among wealthier clients. By Mary...
by Peter McIntosh | Feb 15, 2016 | Earth testing, Earth theory, Living Sustainably, Local materials, Natural building, Natural building methods, Peter McIntosh, Rammed Earth, Sand, Sandbag, Sustainable building
The foundation of your natural building needs to be well-considered as the integrity of your building rests here. Decisions you make about your foundation depend on the materials you have available, the type of ground you have to build on and what carbon footprint you...
by Peter McIntosh | Jun 16, 2015 | Adobe, African Vernacular Architecture, Clay, Cob, Community, Guest post, Heritage, Indigenous Architectural Knowledge, Indigenous Building Systems, Local materials, Mud brick, Natural building, Natural building methods, Rammed Earth, Sustainable building, Sustainable human settlements, Thermal performance, Uncategorized
In this guest post by Jon Sojkowski, he chronicles common misperceptions of African vernacular architecture and how it is being abandoned for the status that comes with living in conventional Western style buildings. He asks whether these modern materials are truly...
by Peter McIntosh | Jun 3, 2014 | Adobe, Clay, Cob, Compressed Earth Brick (CEB), Earth testing, Earth theory, Mud brick, Natural building, Natural building methods, Peter McIntosh, Rammed Earth, Sand, Sandbag, Strawbale, Sustainable building
By Peter McIntosh (Please note that in order to understand what is written here you will need to have read my previous post on understanding earth) Earth requires two properties to make it strong enough for building, compressive and tensile strength. In much the...
