SIREWALL System Portability: Global Reach to Build Wherever You Are

SIREWALL has expanded with a network of Licensees over the last three years.  These entrepreneurs, seasoned builders and architects are committed to bringing SIREWALL rammed earth to their communities and around the globe.

Since the majority of input materials for the SIREWALL System are sourced locally, these experts can take their knowledge on the road to build beautiful SIREWALL homes and buildings wherever you are.  Adapted to various climates and soil conditions, the SIREWALL System can be applied around the world without compromising quality – the highest standards in the industry.

Can SIREWALL be built where I live?

Since starting over 18 years ago, the SIREWALL team has been able to produce strong soil blends without fail. For example, in Maui, the soil was thought to be too volcanic; in Manitoba, builders expected there would be too much clay and in Shanghai, architects thought there would be too much silt for a project built at mouth of Yangtze River. Even when the conditions seemed less than optimal, our experts – the most experienced in the industry – found the perfect blend.  So based on our track record, SIREWALL can most likely be built where you live.

The SIREWALL team have worked on projects in North America; including British Columbia, Manitoba, Hawaii, Utah, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming and around the globe in Portugal, India, China and Sri Lanka.  With our growing network of Licensees excited to bring SIREWALL to the world, we are just starting to dig in to the possibilities.

How will project Quality Assurance be managed?

A SIREWALL Project Manager is on site at all times, backed by a rammed earth professional with at least ten years experience.  Every member of our team understands the critical details of the SIREWALL System, which ensures consistent, predictable results.

“Rarely is the relationship between nature and architecture more explicit than in rammed earth construction.”- Architectural Record

What’s the best way to get started?

Firstly, be open to considering an entirely different paradigm in building green. Our experience has shown that projects are completed faster and cheaper when the SIREWALL team is involved from the early stages of conceptualization.  Contact the SIREWALL office today.  Do not delay.  Beautiful SIREWALL homes and buildings can be built wherever you are.

100 Mile Building: SIREWALL Insulated Rammed Earth Relies on Inputs From Your Community

You’ve seen these before: McMansions or flagship buildings supplanted in a neighbourhood, which may be architectural feats, but are out of place in their context and design.  Homes and buildings that are constructed with the latest trends or hottest foreign materials suddenly seem tired, dated or just an eye-sore within a few years after it was built – a bit too Vegas for the heart & soul of the community. These buildings will likely become tear-downs with a colossal eco footprint ending up in landfills.

In the built environment, design that is personal but still reflects the values of its community and its natural surroundings is more likely to stand the test of time.

What’s even better: design and construction requiring input from community members, local skilled labour and materials, blending seamlessly into the landscape. These buildings are most valued and appreciated as legacies in the community.

Building walls with the SIREWALL System is like putting an inefficient, bloated construction project on a 100 Mile Diet.  During idea conception, area architects and engineers can work with the SIREWALL team using an integrated design approach that considers all of the finer details and speeds up the overall project schedule. The SIREWALL rammed earth ingredients, 90% of which includes gravel, sand, silt and clay, are sourced from a local pit.  Soil analysis and blend optimization can be managed electronically by sending data samples to the SIREWALL team; ensuring soil blends will produce desired compressive strengths.  Construction workers from your community can be guided, under the expert supervision of a SIREWALL Project Manager to assist with manual labour. Personal touches, site-specific design features and artisan finishes can be added, connecting the unique flavour of your community to the project.

Keep it local and see what a difference the simple, natural beauty of insulated rammed earth can make.  The sense of pride, connection and the lasting legacy of a SIREWALL home or building will resonate in your community.

Public washrooms at Grand Beach in Manitoba

SIREWALL in the News

The Sept/Oct issue of Cottage magazine features “Building with Dirt – The Art of Rammed Earth”, and an interview with SIREWALL Founder Meror Krayenhoff. Check it out – cottage owners who “…can relate to the anticipation and trepidation you feel before opening up the cottage for the season…”, read on.  Beautiful, energy efficient, maintenance-free dwellings that stand the test of time can be built using SIREWALLS. Cottage living can be exactly what you intended: imagine relaxing and unwinding – not working all weekend on your cottage to-do list!

The Dirty Details: Designing with SIREWALL Insulated Rammed Earth

With interest in green building at an all time high, the SIREWALL team continually gets loads of questions on insulated rammed earth. Frequently, Architects and Engineers are unsure of the most effective approach to designing with SIREWALLS.  Treating SIREWALL as a substitute concrete wall assembly is inefficient and misses important SIREWALL opportunities and benefits.

SIREWALL Licensees and Project Managers use a tested, consistently used, proven System that effectively takes insulated rammed earth up to a high performance wall assembly.  Through our Licensees, SIREWALL offers high quality, high performance insulated rammed earth for those clients unwilling to cross their fingers.

The most advanced rammed earth is built using the SIREWALL System.  No other approach allows this range of design and consistent system performance.  Some of the many aspects that set SIREWALL apart:

• Strengths approaching concrete using only 1/2 to 1/3 the cement
• Hydrophobic or hydrophilic rammed earth characteristics – control over the humidity flywheel and rising damp
• Thermal envelope uninterrupted by thermal bridging around windows & doors
• No need for a “bond beam” – eliminating that enormous thermal bridge
• Choice between surface finish textures (e.g. a 600 micron finish)
• Optimized efficiency and architectural expression through various forming methods and materials including plywood, steel, fibreglass, and fabric
• Different coloured wythes.

Before starting a project design, avoid turning to what you already know – like concrete. While SIREWALL and concrete are both structural, the similarities between their design and integration end there.

Accelerate your project ideas by contacting the SIREWALL team today.  Talk to the most experienced rammed earth builders who are committed to uncompromising results.