This month's Moment of Inspiration is a news story from earlier this year. It was announced that the world's tallest rammed earth structure made with SIREWALL for Telenor '345' Head Office recently opened in Islamabad, Pakistan, which is encouraging for anyone who hopes to build with regard to sustainability and low-enviromental-impact development.
The type of product used to build this rammed earth structure is called SIREWALL, a branded, proprietary rammed earth wall system. This wall system was developed and perfected by Meror Krayenhoff, a pioneer in green building in Canada in the 1990's. Since that time, the system has been tested and refined in dozens of project around the world.
SIREWALL and its materials can make energy efficient homes that can last for many generations. It's a more solid approach similar to engineered sandstone, and it is visually stunning, as you can see in the photos of the office space in Pakistan.
Custom Features
- Communications tower sets a new record for the world’s tallest rammed earth structure at 100 feet (SIREWALL broke their own previous record set by the 51-foot tall Brinton Museum).
Technical Details
- Total project area: approximately 600,000 square feet (55,742 square meters)
- Designed low-tech SIREWALL delivery protocols based on availability of abundant manual labour
- Perimeter wall dimensions: 2-feet (0.6m) by 10-feet (3m) by approximately 0.47 miles (750m)
- Tower walls thickness: 3-feet
- Tower height: 100-feet
Location: Near Islamabad, Pakistan
Architect / Designer: Arcop
SIREWALL Licensee: Terra Firma Builders Ltd.
(Read SIREWALL's blog post for an in-depth look at their process on this project.)
In June 2015, Suzanne had the opportunity to attend a week-long course on Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada, to learn about SIREWALL. She visited five very unique homes that showcased the beauty, sustainable benefits, and durability of this fascinating wall system.
With buildings cropping up all over the world and even breaking records, this news is especially encouraging to architects like Suzanne. She's been intrigued by this wall system and has been looking for a good opportunity to build with it, as it is an alternate building system that is expanding its market base with residential and commercial application.
