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Sandbag Building Technology
Background:
- Various sandbag building systems have been used over the last 100 years or so, originating in the military.
- In 2003 Eco Design Architects developed their own generic design for using sand bags in conjunction with timber ladder frames for use in the Twin Streams Staff housing project.
Benefits:
- Allows for use of freely available local and scrap material.
- Is a very solid durable construction
- Has excellent thermal and acoustic properties
- Involving Community: Allows for the setting up of a series of Micro-enterprises with use of local material, i.e.
- Harvesting timber poles
- Treating timber with non-toxic timber preservative
- Collecting sand/rubble and salvaging small dimensioned timbers
- Timber ladder manufacture
- Bag manufacture.
- Cost effective as the simplicity of construction means one can used unskilled labour to build the walls.
- Technical information:
- Aside from the foundations, this system requires no cement or binder, and besides sand, the bags can be filled with clay, rubble or gravel.
- Bags are dry-packed between timber ladder frames, which are positioned vertically at approx 1,0m centres and reinforced with a timber ring beam plate at 2,4m height.
- The clay and lime plastered walls provide superior insulation when compared to regular concrete block construction.
Company Track record/examples of work:
- House Olivier, Kromme Valley Farm Clan William, 2019
- Office Renovations – Eco Design Offices 2014 and 2018
- House by Marion Whiteman, Bathurst, Eastern Cape 2012.
- Jozini Lodge, Swaziland, 2010
- Building system design used for 8 chalets for West Coast National Park by Studio 44, 2008
- Twinstreams Environmental Centre Staff Housing – Mtunzini, KZN, 2004. This project was awarded the Sustainable Building Best Practice Award for Africa at the Africa regional Sustainable Building Conference held at Speer 2004.
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