Projects

DfID School block

The Hatcliffe building was funded by British government Overseas Development Administration (ODA), shortly after the publication of the Code of Practice (see Research). The main issue was to demonstrate that rammed earth could successfully support a roof span of 8 metres. This span is directly derived from building codes of the colonial era which have not changed across anglophone Africa. All school classrooms must have an 8m span, whether in tropical Nigeria or high veldt Zimbabwe, the rule has remained the same.

We designed the building to show a number of features beyond the roof span however, and included a curved apsoidal end, a gable end, two door types and two window openings. The walls were left untreated. Zimbabwe is full of rammed earth buildings which have been plastered, and as victims of their own success, they are then invisible. However we did plaster a series of panels in a variety of different materials including: soil, sand, lime and cement mixes.

The building was constructed by a team which included two gangers, none of whom had built like this before. The walls of the 155m2 building were completed in 4 weeks. The roof, built to a design from the Timber Research and Development Agency (TRADA) was treated with Borax in a tank made from oil drums to prevent termite damage. The roof was erected by the same team.

This building technology was 60% cheaper than concrete blocks, and could provide double the number of built units for many African school building programs, as well as clinics, homes and a range of commercial buildings. The main threat to these buildings is a reluctance to abandon the cement standard set by so many colonial administrations all those years ago.