Rammed earth homes and walls may look and feel great, but their beauty isn’t just skin deep. Hidden within every unique wall built by Olnee is a range of benefits that other materials can only dream of.
The benefits of rammed earth homes and walls
- Rammed earth’s superior insulation qualities mean you’ll stay warmer in winter and cooler in summer. You’ll keep your heating and cooling costs down while helping to save the environment’s precious resources. The reason for this is the thermal mass of Olnee’s rammed earth walls, which on all our buildings are a minimum of 300mm thick. You need to feel the difference to believe it.
- Rammed earth walls don’t need to be rendered, painted, wallpapered or tiled, although if you want to add a finish you certainly can.
- Rammed earth walls require no ongoing maintenance.
- The strength and durability of rammed earth walls means they are practically permanent. They can handle virtually anything that Mother Nature can throw at them. With the introduction of new technology and waterproofing, Olnee's rammed earth walls are even stronger and more durable than rammed earth walls of the past.
- The thermal mass of rammed earth walls will also help reduce noise, so they’re perfect for busy, loud areas.
- Earth doesn’t burn and neither does a rammed earth wall. This fireproof nature makes it perfect for bushfire-prone areas and is why rammed earth has been added to the Building Code of Australia’s list of recommended building materials for high fire risk areas.
- Rammed earth walls are excellent for load bearing, which reduces the need for structural supports. This can help reduce building costs and provide architectural possibilities that other materials can’t. Standard 300mm Olnee rammed earth walls can be used as load bearing in constructions up to four stories high!
- Termites and other pests are of little concern to rammed earth, so a rammed earth wall is deemed termite resistant under the Building Code of Australia.
- Rammed earth walls are natural and unique. Every wall has it’s own characteristics, variations, texture and colour.
- If you care for the environment, rammed earth is your material of choice. Building with rammed earth essentially involves mixing, filling and compaction. There is no firing process, as you will find in brick manufacturing, so there are no kilns, toxic emissions or damaging greenhouse gases.
- Architects and designers love rammed earth almost as much as we do! Rammed earth is suitable for a wide range structural styles and can be used in practically any commercial and domestic building.
Find out more about rammed earth
To find out more about rammed earth, see our technical specification and process pages, by clicking on one of the images below.