Turning dirt into libraries
Posted by David on 31 March, 2008 in Library News
The Sublette County (Wyoming) library is building a new wing using rammed-earth construction—it will be the first rammed-earth public building in the country.
Rammed earth is an ancient building technique that’s regaining popularity because it’s environmentally fabulous. It’s done by compressing dirt mixed with a stabilizer (lime, cement or the like) into a mold to form walls. The resulting construction is super strong, easy to work with, and has a high thermal mass (which helps even out temperature variations throughout the day). And the icing on the cake: rammed-earth is usually made using local materials, so there’s little transport cost.
Carney architect Matt Thackray said the project has gone better than expected thus far.
“It’s a lot crisper finish than I was honestly expecting, and that’s pretty nice,” he said. “It’s a great time to be up there on the job site because there’s nothing but rammed-earth walls right now, so it has a real sort of ancient feel to it.”
When things look better than the architect expected, that’s got to be good!
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