Structural aspects

Lego-Like Hempcrete Blocks

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These hempcrete blocks are a green building material made with a hemp-lime insulation mixture packed around a biocomposite structural frame. They can be stacked like bricks to build walls up to 30 feet high and they become the insulation and the structure of the building. All you need to do after the walls are built … Read more

The Value of Straw Wattle Walls

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I recently received this message from Patti Stouter, who has been a long time advocate and experimenter with earthbags and other natural technologies, especially as a means for surviving earthquakes and other calamities: I am beginning a test shelter project of straw wattle that may be helpful in both Ukraine and Turkey, so this report … Read more

Catalan Vault Building in Barcelona

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Jordi Domenech is a second generation master mason from Catalunya specializing in the catalan vault method and has built these structures for over 50 years. He is one of the world’s leading builders and teachers on this technique, having constructed hundreds of works, and teaches workshops on traditional masonry techniques. The Catalan vault – also … Read more

Old Shed and Rabbit Hutch Turned into Micro Home

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A small stone building in Switzerland that had been a wood shed and rabbit hutch was transformed into a compact two-level house by architect Enrico Sassi. His design involved repairing the damaged stone walls, adding a new roof, installing an extra window and integrating space-efficient furnishings. “The building was in a poor condition,” Sassi said. … Read more

How to Make Cob to Code in America

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A Cob Construction Appendix has recently been approved for inclusion in the International Residential Building codes in the United States and a number of other countries. The new code requires builders to test their cob mixes for shrinkage, compressive strength, and, in some cases, modulus of rupture. The shrinkage test is the most straightforward and … Read more