About SIREWALL Insulated Rammed Earth

History

Rammed earth walls and buildings are ancient history. That's right – thousands of years ago, builders in Asian, Middle Eastern and European civilizations were ramming earth into forms to create walls and buildings that have stood the test of time. Think the Great Wall of China, think castles and fortified homes, think temples and sacred spaces – carefully constructed and connected to their surroundings largely using Rammed Earth.

Somehow, our connection to the planet and mother earth was forgotten. Trees have been cut, natural resources drained, chemicals and toxins pumped into manufactured building materials to stabilize them. Buildings are one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Over time, buildings have burned to the ground, rotted and devoured by natural forces and slowly polluted the air we breathe and spaces we occupy.

Fast-forward to the early 1990's when a visionary and environmental entrepreneur, Meror Krayenhoff, abandoned current building practices and took lessons from ancient civilizations to create SIREWALLs (Stabilized, Insulated, Rammed Earth walls). Leveraging over thirty years of experience as a green builder, he intended to create homes and buildings that nourish our bodies instead of polluting them, stand the test of time, create a classic legacy for future generations and ultimately – he sought to develop a new standard for healthy, efficient buildings you and the planet will be proud of.

With tens of thousands of square feet of SIREWALLs built in the last seventeen years, Meror and the SIREWALL team have revolutionized a rammed earth system like no other. The SIREWALL Team has more experience leading insulated rammed earth crews  than all other related builders combined. The following chronology outlines that this green building technology is ready for the mainstream through the SIREWALL System.

SIREWALL firsts:

• 1992 Invention of insulated rammed earth by Meror Krayenhoff of SIREWALL
• 1993 First Code-approved insulated rammed earth project in the world
• 1994 First curved insulated rammed earth in the world
• 1995 First fully buried (underground house) insulated rammed earth in the world
• 1997 First two storey, curving insulated rammed earth in the world, creation of the SIREWALL System
• 2005 First commercial SIREWALL building in the world (Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Center)
• 2007 First commercial SIREWALL buildings in USA and CHINA
• 2008 World Intellectual Property Office approves the novelty, utility, and marketability of all 86 claims toward patent on the SIREWALL System

About the Founder

For over thirty years Meror Krayenhoff has honed his credentials as an environmental builder. As the inventor, developer, and patent creator of SIREWALL and President of Terra Firma Builders, he has won numerous awards with CHBA including thirteen Gold CARE's and six Gold Georgies, notably "Best Homebuilder in BC".

One of his flagship projects, the Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Centre, the longest insulated rammed earth wall in the world, is known among world's most influential architects. Nk'Mip was recognized as a winner at the 2008 World of Architecture Festival and was awarded the 2008 Governor General's Medal in Architecture with the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

Until recently, Meror thought he would continue to build SIREWALL homes on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, make a great living and retire there with his family. With mass awareness on environmental issues and demand for building alternatives on the rise, Meror realized that SIREWALL had the potential to develop a new standard for healthy, efficient homes and buildings – a standard that could be proudly shared with like-minded visionaries around the globe.

Explore future possibilities with SIREWALL »