RAMMED EARTH HOUSE - BUILDING WITH THE EARTH
Picture above: Rammed Earth House photographer James Brittain
As garden designers, we know much of the success of our work lies in collaboration with craftspeople who understand material and place. Many traditional methods use fewer resources, last longer, and feel more beautiful because they are rooted in their surroundings. The recently completed Rammed Earth House in Wiltshire by Tuckey Design Studio is an incredible example: a contemporary home that reconnects us with the ground beneath our feet.
The house stands on the grounds of a former brickworks, set above the clay beds of the Kimmeridge formation. For the architects, this history was not something to erase but to build upon. As lead architect Emaad Damda recalls: “The site was once home to a former brick yard. We were keen to tap into this connection to place, if we could find a way to use the material.”
That connection became literal. Clay-rich soil was mixed with water and aggregate to form thick, loadbearing walls. The aggregate itself came from crushed brick and concrete salvaged from a demolished extension. “This became the primary method of construction, avoiding tonnes of waste going to landfill by celebrating the use of site-won material,” says Emaad.
The resulting walls are monumental, framing sheltered courtyards and mediating between house and landscape. Alongside earth, a carefully composed palette of natural materials enriches the architecture: bag-rubbed brick bases, Douglas fir and oak timber frames, cedar shingles, copper rainwater goods, and Chicksgrove limestone sills, each chosen for how it will weather, deepen and complement the rammed earth.
Inside, the architecture becomes more intimate. Niches are carved into the walls, a spiral staircase winds up from their thickness. In the snug, polished earth floors glint in the light, “akin to a rich terrazzo,” as Emaad describes it. The storm room offers a cocoon-like retreat for watching weather sweep across the West Country skies.
Unstabilised rammed earth, sometimes called 100% earth, is simple in composition but demanding in craft. “Large sections of formwork were erected on site from which the walls slowly rose. Our builders walked up and down within this formwork, compacting the earth with specialised ramming equipment. The site was turned into part quarry, part workshop,” explains Emaad.
Over a year of work, layers of earth were compacted and bound with lime checks to guide erosion and ensure the surfaces age gracefully. It is a truly handmade material, and its imperfections give it a character that very few materials can match.”
For Tuckey Design Studio, the house embodies a philosophy honed over 25 years. “Our studio was founded on the principle of reuse. Rammed Earth House encapsulates this philosophy, reinterpreting existing fabric found on site, and upcycling it to formulate a new building material,” says Emaad.
Rammed earth remains unusual in Britain, and the architects acknowledge the hurdles. “It is not a mainstream material. This creates a challenge explaining it to some clients and can often be a barrier to adoption.”
“We are working out how the process could be scaled up, repeated, optimised and even prefabricated. As an industry facing the pressures of climate change and resource scarcity, we must find ways to reduce our carbon footprint and rammed earth provides a beautiful, time-tested and readily available resource.”
What inspires us most about this house is its sense of belonging. Its walls will weather and soften, its materials will deepen with age, and the house will always feel part of the ground it rises from.
The Rammed Earth House reminds us that the best buildings, like the best gardens, are not imposed upon their sites but emerge from them. This timeless method connects to rural communities, becoming a collaboration with place, craft, and time.
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