Building with earth - Gernot MINKE (1)

Loam-filled hollow blocks
In industrialised countries, there are many
different types of hollow blocks available,
which are usually filled with concrete. They
are made of materials such as pumice
bound in cement mortar, expanded clay,
cement-bound woodwool, lime-bound
sand, baked clay or foamed polystyrene. If
the wall is not load-bearing, loam can also
be used instead of concrete infill loam.
Load-bearing members can be integrated
with these walls or placed inside the walls,
as shown in 10.22.
10.23 10.24
10.17 Transporting and
pumping lightweight
mineral loam
10.18 Surface of a light
loam wall made of clayey
loam and expanded clay
(8–16 mm) after the
formwork was removed
10.19 Scraping lightweight
mineral loam wall
in order to get a textured
surface (without using
plaster)
10.20 Vertical section
through floor with lightweight
mineral loam
10.21 Lightweight mineral
loam used as infill in
timber flooring
10.22 Loam-filled hollow
blocks forming a corner
with different positions of
structural post
10.23 Filling hoses with
lightweight mineral loam
using a pump
10.24 to 10.25 Manually
filling of hoses with lightweight
mineral loam
using a funnel
10.25
If high airborne noise insulation and thermal
capacity is required, a high proportion
of gravel should be mixed into the loam.
If high thermal insulation is required, lightweight
aggregates should be added.
89
Tamped lightweight loam