Chonburi Multi-purpose Building: Applying Rammed Earth Construction in Thailand

Rammed earth is an ancient construction technique that has been gaining niche popularity in recent years, as environmentally conscious architects seek to design low-energy and resilient buildings amidst a warming climate.

Principal architect Peeraya Suphasidh spoke of her inclination to revive this building method: “Although the technique was invented thousands of years ago, it has been disregarded for its labour-intensive and time-consuming nature. The use of rammed earth as the primary building material here is not just an aesthetic choice, but also a practical one—it naturally regulates indoor temperatures, keeping the building cool during hot days.”

Located on the remote seafront town of Chonburi in Thailand, this mixed-use building (with possible programmes such as a kitchenette/café, meeting room and viewing deck) overlooks the ocean and is subject to a tropical savanna climate, with summers averaging 35 degrees Celsius and heavy rainfall in the humid monsoon seasons. Rammed earth is suitable for this kind of climate, requiring no additional insulative treatments¹ while being able to provide good thermal resistance and time lag (the delay in a material to emit absorbed heat from sunlight).²

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‘TRANSLATING’ THE TECHNIQUE LOCALLY

For two years, the team painstakingly studied the technique together with their contractor and local builders. “Many trials were conducted to finalise the material composition, as well as the right pneumonic pressure to compress the earth vertically to meet construction standards of strength and durability,” Peeraya said. “It was not an easy process.”

Some construction delays pushed the project into the monsoon season, necessitating the team to create weather protection during the earth mixing and ramming process. The design was elevated upon plinths 1 metre above ground level to protect against water damage and moisture from the ground.

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PROJECT DATA

Project Name
Chonburi Multi-purpose Building

Location
Chonburi, Thailand

Completion Date
January 2024

Site Area
174 square meters

Gross Floor Area
196.3 square meters

Number of Rooms
6

Building Height
11.5 meters

Architecture Firm
Suphasidh Architects

Principal Architect
Peeraya Suphasidh

Main Contractor
Chang Kid Engineering

Photos
Jessica Tang

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Read more stories from FuturArc 4Q 2024: Tempering Temperatures!

¹ “Investigation of energy performance of a rammed earth built commercial office building in three different climate zones of Australia.” M.M Hasan & K. Dutta. Rammed Earth Construction, Ciancio & Beckett (Eds), 2015. Taylor & Francis Group, London
² Building Design, Construction and Performance in Tropical Climates. Alison Cotgrave, Michael Farragher, Mike Riley (Eds), 2017. CRC Press.