Material ·
Yucca Valley House
Rammed earth
Walls made from the ground they stand on, 450 mm thick, that keep the house cool through the desert day.
Source
Soil dug from the house footprint, stabilised with 6% cement.
Rammed earth
at
Yucca Valley House
Why we chose it
450 mm walls store the day’s heat and give it back at night, so the rooms stay even without air conditioning.
How it ages
The face softens and the layers show more over time. Wind can wear the surface, so we added a deep roof and a stone base.
Sustainability
Most of the wall came from within 30 m of where it stands. Very little was trucked in.
