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Rammed earth for a lodge in Ethiopia's Simien Mountains
started with the architect Mario Balducci coming on a three day
workshop in the UK. Returning to Ethiopia to practice he was
approached by a small group who had permission to build the first
lodge inside the Simien Mountains National Park,
Limalimo.
Simien Mountains are a long way from a factory making
building products, everything had to be made at site or transported a
long way. So making walls from earth was an obvious choice, and
rammed
earth has some advantages over the local wattle and daub tradition. So
the design developed and we consulted with skype and email to ensure
the design was 'do-able' and that the tooling would work. It was all
made on site from locally produced ply and timber except the bolts
which were made up in the nearest town.
Making the most of expensive foreign consultants relies
on a good communication between the designer/client and the
consultant, with regular discussions, updates including many pictures
of everything from plywood samples to soil tests. This ensures when we
arrive on that only the things which can't be done remotely, looking
at the soil, training the team, assembling formwork, mixes, placing,
ramming and de-forming, can be started straight away, reducing time
and cost on site.
Even so there was still work to be done to complete the
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formwork when we arrived on site, the final hurdle of
confidence was still something the builders on site needed help
with. This was another job where some small tools we brought could
speed up the transition from no knowledge to competence. This included
a hand drill with magnetic screw tip and a couple of boxes of self
tapping wood screws. This allowed work to go on even when the electric
generator ran out of petrol!
To begin we started with sample walls, the first was
1.2m x 1.2m, as this was being built the formwork for wall two, 1.2m x
2.4m was being prepared. Thus in a day we had two walls, one of which
was 2.4m in height which is always a big psychological step, turning a
heap of soil into something substantial and tall. The builders know
what they put in the mix, that it's only clay which binds the
material, and yet they are able to create big structures without any
re-enforcing. as time goes by this builds confidence in the material
which in turn helps all the processes from soil preparation to
formwork removal.
After a week on site the team had produced a series of
full sized walls, the carpenters working first under supervision and
then independently. The mixing, placing and ramming was quickly taken
up by a team of men and women who had been working together across the
site digging foundations, building foundations a range of jobs so they
knew each other. Starting to build walls was made easier because the
team was already a team, but also because they realised how quickly
they were able to build substantial elements without help.
The work continued over the following weeks and months,
once the walls were built for the first units other jobs began, roofs,
floors, windows and doors. We continued to consult on the job through
skype and email, continued to get picture updates through dropbox to
advise on details, fixings etc. It's great to get on site as a
consultant, but not when they are so far away and cost is a factor. So
the internet becomes a great tool to reduce distances.
The lodge has
two main building types, bedrooms and the
main reception and eating area. The bedrooms are quite similar to each
other but also slightly unique, each having its own view across the
mountains and private areas to sit out in. The main building has a
rammed earth fire place, with a stripy wall and a
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