In celebration of World Earth Day 2024, we wanted to share our journey of building a small house in Goa using rammed earth construction. We've divided our experience into three parts:

PART 1: the project's inception,

PART 2: the challenges we encountered, and finally,

PART 3: the successful execution of our first rammed earth wall on-site.

Our story begins with the start of the project and a hands-on workshop on Rammed Earth led by Gia Mantra Village. Sanjeev Wahi the COO of Grounded attended this workshop.

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Following this, we delved into research and development specific to our site living in Goa, conducting tests, and facing various challenges along the way.

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Through our dedication and with assistance from Thumb Impressions, we overcame these obstacles and successfully completed the first wall of the house.

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From researching and trying out different mixes to solving real-life challenges with the walls, we've come a long way. Building rammed earth walls depends a lot on the specific site and many factors need to be taken into account. We've successfully built these walls at our site and want to share our experience to help others interested in rammed earth construction find all the information they need in one place. You can find more about our journey on our Instagram. If you have any questions, feel free to send us a direct message.

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Images sourced from Anupama Kundoo

Wall House in Auroville is an experimental house designed by sustainability champion Anupama Kundoo. The architecture employs a play in proportions to create comfortable yet dramatic spatial envelopes. The house is built entirely with locally sourced materials in new, innovative ways to create soothing, earthy spaces that respond to the warm, humid climate.

Wall House is predominantly constructed with the vernacular ‘Achukkal’ brick, once ubiquitous to the building landscape in Tamil Nadu. Known for their unique flat, thin profiles and their distinctive red colour, Achukkal bricks are typically made out of left-over silt that is collected from farmlands around. They are then shaped by hand and fired in clay ovens for strength and stability. The bricks are deemed to be extremely sustainable, given their long life, low cost of production, and the sparing amounts of energy use for manufacturing.

The earthy palette and warm finishes move beyond the brick walls and are found throughout the house. The august clay pot vault above the double-height living space and the innovative filler slab roof above the dining area are particularly worthy of mention.

Each facade of Wall House sports unique fenestrations that bring in fresh air and ample daylight. On one side, a series of louvered windows built out of local mango wood and completed with unpolished granite stone come into sight. On the other side, a series of pivoting ferrocement screens open the house to the verdant landscape around when open, and bring beautiful light and shadow patterns indoors when closed.

In this IG Live, I speak to Donald Sequeira. Donald is an architect, natural builder, and the Director of Gia Mantra Global Village in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India. In this first part of our conversation on 'Building with Rammed Earth', we understand the fundamentals. We understand the potential and constraints of rammed earth as a material and learn about preparing the material for construction. We speak about the material's strength and stability and understand construction concerns such as building height and services. We also discuss the durability and maintenance of rammed earth over its lifetime.

Here are some common myths about rammed earth debunked:

• A rammed earth structure can be built in all climatic regions.

  Rammed earth can be used for construction anywhere. It is a breathable but dense material that offers great heat exchange in tropical areas and thermal insulation in extremely hot or cold regions.

• A rammed earth building is durable and has a lifespan greater than concrete.

  Rammed earth structures also possess strength that is at least equal to the strength of concrete. They are extremely sustainable in the long run and require minimum maintenance.

• Rammed earth walls do not have to be very thick and there is no limit to room sizes.

  For a ground floor structure, only a 9" rammed earth wall is required which is equal to the thickness of a brick wall. As long as this criteria is met, it is possible to create spacious rooms of various sizes with rammed earth.

• There is no threat of insects or pests entering the house through the rammed earth walls.

  Once compressed, the rammed earth wall becomes extremely hard and dense. While the material is breathable, it is not not porous. The density does not allow for passages to be made by pests.

The feeling of being inside a rammed earth structure is indescribable. The structure changes with the weather to protect you. It has a quiet, special, womb-like quality - one instantly feels cocooned.

In this IG Live, I speak to Malvika Mehta, Founder of MLIME. Malvika's team in Rajasthan has done some lovely work with lime plasters bringing the use of lime to modern buildings while also using it to conserve historic structures. Over our conversation we discuss the romance and practicalities of lime. We compare the use of IPS with lime and oxide, often found in old houses in Goa. We discuss the heritage of lime as well the potential it has to become a contemporary natural material. We get into details about lime's breathability, moisture management, and its effectiveness in indoor-outdoor spaces that are exposed to harsh heat and rain. We also speak about the process of making lime, its maintenance and cost efficiencies. Finally, we discuss the various finishes, colours and textures that a lime plaster comes in.

In this IG Live, we discuss the natural material wood and answer some important questions about our experiences while using wood in construction for our houses in Goa. Over the course of the Live session, I speak about crucial aspects that are often overlooked - such as sourcing and treating wood for the best performance. I have also presented the potential and limitations of reclaimed wood. Finally, I discuss whether wood can be considered a sustainable material.

To know more about wood and its properties, you can also read

ROMANCING WOOD , an introduction about the choice of using wood.

SEASONING WOOD , the efforts and precautions to be taken while treating wood.

IS WOOD A GREEN MATERIAL? , an understanding of whether wood is sustainable.

I recently conducted a Q&A session on the use of stone as a building material to answer questions from students, architects, home owners and design enthusiasts. Over the live session, I have presented the different varieties of stone as well as the diverse finishes that are available. I have discussed the types of stone best suited for specific areas of a house based on factors such as utility, landscape and exposure to heat. I also speak about how different types of stone can be maintained, weighing the benefits of each type. Finally, I speak about the climatic impact and tolerance that stone has.

Tune in to watch the entire video.

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