Building with rammed earth and chalk

A two-day course run in partnership with Low Carbon Trust

16 – 17 October 2010 (Saturday - Sunday) 9.00am - 5.30pm each day

This hands-on course is for those who want to learn how to build with earth or chalk and should be of value to designers too.

Venue

Stanmer Park (near University of Sussex), Brighton. Click here for directions to our meeting point at Stanmer Park.

Click here for details of local accommodation and to find out about Brighton Permaculture Trust supporters who can provide accommodation in their homes.

Who is the course for?

This course is for anyone thinking about building their own home and anyone interested in learning about rammed earth and chalk. It is suitable for complete beginners, as well as those who are familiar with eco-building and want to know more.

What will the course cover?

This course will cover the basics of rammed earth and chalk, from the benefits of building with rammed earth, finding the right earth, choosing a formwork system, different construction methods, design detailing, different approaches and the various tools used. There will be a large practical component to the course, with the construction of a section of rammed earth wall.

Course tutors

Rowland Keable runs Ram Cast CIC, a not-for-profit consultancy which trains a range of businesses and individuals in the use of rammed earth. Rowland has worked with this building method since 1985, in Africa and Australia but mainly in the UK for the last ten years. He has also co-written two books and many articles, and published a national standard for the technology which is now under review for harmonization by 15 southern African countries.

Mischa Hewitt will be assisting Rowland. Mischa was one of the Project Managers of Earthship Brighton, the author of the book Earthships: Build a zero carbon future and has an MSc in Architecture: Advanced Environmental and Energy Studies from the Centre for Alternative Technology. He is a building consultant and works with the green building company Earthwise Construction.

Learning outcomes

Participants will learn what needs to be considered when building with rammed earth and chalk. They will also learn how to plan and construct with this low impact material, including detailing electrical conduits.

What you will need to bring

Hand-outs will be provided, but a notepad and pen are useful to jot down ideas. Also bring some clothes and footwear you don’t mind getting dirty for the practicals, along with some work gloves. Please bring food to share for lunch or your own lunch.

Fees

Fees include tuition, handouts and refreshments.

£225 - Sponsored/organisation rate
£225 - Individual income more than 25k/yr
£180 - Individual income 18-25k/yr
£135 - Individual waged less than 18k/yr
£90 - Individual, concessionary rate

Concessionary rates are available to people in receipt of means-tested benefits (including housing benefit, council tax benefit and working tax credit), also full-time students and OAP s.

We endeavour to make our courses/events affordable to all. Unfortunately we do not receive any external funding for most of our courses/events and as such rely on large amounts of voluntary input to run courses/events.

See the cancellations and refunds policy.

Booking

Booking is essential as most of our courses/events are fully booked weeks in advance. However if places are still available then reservations can be made until midday the day before the course/event.

You can pay now using a credit/debit card or paypal. This is our preferred option as it saves us administration time. It is usually also possible to pay by cheque/postal order, however this option will not be available on the form in the two weeks leading up to the course/event, or if it is nearly fully booked. A place is not secured until we have received the requested payment and reservations will only be valid for 3 working days.

Please read the information on this page then
register here for Building with rammed earth and chalk, 16-17 October 2010
If places are available you will automatically be taken to the booking form.

You will receive email confirmation of your registration; please check your spam or junk email folder (especially Hotmail account holders).

Contact us

For further information or if you have problems with your registration please contact us.