All good things must come to an end

by | Dec 7, 2014 | Adobe, Alternative building, Amanda de Gouveia, Dance like an elephant, Earth testing, Earth theory, Events, Heritage, Hermie Delport, Indigenous Architectural Knowledge, Laurie Simpson, Lebone Village Arts and Culture Centre, Lesley Freedman, Local materials, Malcolm Worby, Natural building, Natural building course, Natural building methods, Natural mortar mixes, Peter McIntosh, Qala Phelang Tala, Shack replacement, Start Living Green, Sustainable building

… and 2014 is no different. It is with pride and joy that we look back on the successes and new connections made during 2014. We launched our blog in March and have had over 5000 visits from people in 98 countries! The blog contributions included knowledge...

Understanding Earth II: Testing earth

by | 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...