Category: Compressed earth bricks (CEB – CSEB)
The engineered modern age EARTH
Compressed Stabilised Earth Blocks – The soil, raw or stabilized, is slightly moistened, poured into a steel press and then compressed either with a manual or motorized press. It seems that the first attempts at Compressed Earth Blocks (CEB) were tried in France, in the early years of the 19th century: The architect Francois Cointeraux, around 1803, precast small blocks of rammed earth. He used hand rammers to compress humid soil into small wooden moulds which were held with the feet.
Read more about our experiments with CSEB.
2015 Brick Kiln House
The brick Kiln house is coming up! Stone foundation and compressed stabilized earth blocks (CSEB).
Read more about the project here.
2014 Ecological Bus-stop
We developed a prototype of a bus-stop for the village of Leubringhen, to be used by students and travelers in the region. “An opportunity to demonstrate ecological materials in a public space” was the brief given to us. We built it with poplar wood and Compressed stabilized earth blocks (CSEB) with a green roof. The design was conceived with a solar panel that lights up the inside as the sun is very rare in this region during winter. The bus-stop had to protect against the stong winds in the pas-de-calais region.
The huge interior wall gave plenty of room for creative freedom. We drew a map of the region highlighting all the local treasures, using non-toxic paints and plenty of enthusiasm from the village children.
First step First press
Here is the old grandma we received last week. No disrespect in calling her that… she has already a few years of hard-work behind her and after pressing Earth blocks for a few houses she really required a makeover!
This Mardini Press might not be the next candidate for some high-tech award but it is robust, extremely simple and can produce up to 500 compressed earth blocks per day.
It could be an alternative for the COB technique which has been used locally in South India for ages but is labor intensive and comes with more structural restrictions. We will definitely explore the possibilities of rammed earth, adobe, as well and keep you updated.
We just wanted to share with you our excitement after producing our first brick with this newcomer!
Happy New Year 2015 to everybody! Keep creating, keep sharing.
