Foundations

The site for the building is on heavy clay. We removed the clay and put it aside to use later for making the daub.


We filled the lower part of the foundations with drainage gravel with a drainage pipe bedded into it. The drainage pipe leads to a deep soakaway below the clay layer. These "self-draining" foundations encourage moisture to move away from under the foundations and not rise up the wall.


On top of the drainage layer, we layed a limecrete footing. Limecrete works like concrete, but instead of cement, natural hydraulic lime is used. Lime production releases 80% less CO2 than cement production, so reduces the environmental impact of the building. Limecrete is also more flexible and breathable than cement, so is more appropriate for a building which uses natural materials.