The Castle Tower House is largely the same plan as the 2-story Roundhouse Above Survival Shelter with a crenellated roof design. In the earthbag castle I’m currently designing it’s used as a corner ‘watch tower’. Its primary function in ‘peace time’ is a guesthouse or office. Compare this version to the original plan to see … Read more
This design evolved from email discussions with one of my repeat customers who is building earthbag homes in South America. He wanted a larger, grander design that included a larger master bedroom, pantry, mechanical room and sitting room. My recent blog post on Earthbag Fortresses and Castles was quite popular and so I decided to … Read more
Make sure you get the basics right so your earthbag home is safe, sound and durable. As obvious as this seems, the most fundamental earthbag building principles sometimes get lost in the forest of information. That was one reason for writing the Earthbag Building Guide – to focus on the most important steps and demonstrate … Read more
Small Earth provides supportive and sustainable environments for communities around the world through the creative use of elemental materials and the application of Permaculture inspired thinking. From conception to delivery our projects leave a legacy of landmark buildings beautifully integrated into sustainable and productive landscaped spaces. Julian Faulkner is the co-founder and CEO of Small … Read more
I published my preferred earthbag foundation method in my new book Earthbag Building Guide. It still seems to be the strongest method because it locks 1-1/2 courses of earthbags below grade. With this method, the site is raised prior to building the foundation with stable fill material such as road base, and compacted by driving … Read more
Ronin’s CORGANIX shipping container/earthbag hybrid design is gaining a lot of traction. His post yesterday at Renaissance Ronin Blog triggered 33 emails and mirrored content on about 30 sites. This is a new approach for earthbaggers that’s well worth considering. In this case, Ronin is selling the ISBUs with a pre-finished kitchen and bath. He … Read more