The use of adobe in construction
Adobe is a material used for building that is made of organic materials such as earth, clay, straw, and so on. In Spanish, ‘adobe’ translates as ‘mudbrick’, and buildings that are constructed from adobe have a similar appearance to cob or rammed earth buildings.
Adobe bricks are traditionally made in open cast moulds and left to sun-dry rather than being kiln-fired. They are laid using an earth mortar and smoothed down when the wall is finished before a clay render is usually applied as a surface coating. This production process, as well as the nature of clay, means that adobe bricks have advantageous water resistance. However, buildings that are exposed to a lot of wet conditions should be provided with eaves to protect the walls.
Adobe bricks have similar properties to other forms of earth construction – fire-resistant, flexible, durable, provide sufficient thermal mass to ensure good energy efficiency, and good sound insulation.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- Arup and Better Shelter at the Working Together For Disaster Relief conference.
- Brick.
- Brick wall.
- Clay.
- Cob building.
- Construction materials.
- Daub.
- Earth building.
- Earthen construction.
- Green building.
- Hempcrete.
- Mud brick in Iran.
- Practical Building Conservation: Earth, Brick and Terracotta.
- Rammed earth.
- Recyclable construction materials.
- Shelter.
- Straw bale construction.
- Unfired clay masonry: An introduction to low-impact building materials.
- Vernacular earthen architecture.
Featured articles and news
Twas the site before Christmas...
A rhyme for the industry and a thankyou to our supporters.
Plumbing and heating systems in schools
New apprentice pay rates coming into effect in the new year
Addressing the impact of recent national minimum wage changes.
EBSSA support for the new industry competence structure
The Engineering and Building Services Skills Authority, in working group 2.
Notes from BSRIA Sustainable Futures briefing
From carbon down to the all important customer: Redefining Retrofit for Net Zero Living.
Principal Designer: A New Opportunity for Architects
ACA launches a Principal Designer Register for architects.
A new government plan for housing and nature recovery
Exploring a new housing and infrastructure nature recovery framework.
Leveraging technology to enhance prospects for students
A case study on the significance of the Autodesk Revit certification.
Fundamental Review of Building Regulations Guidance
Announced during commons debate on the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 report.
CIAT responds to the updated National Planning Policy Framework
With key changes in the revised NPPF outlined.
Councils and communities highlighted for delivery of common-sense housing in planning overhaul
As government follows up with mandatory housing targets.
CIOB photographic competition final images revealed
Art of Building produces stunning images for another year.
HSE prosecutes company for putting workers at risk
Roofing company fined and its director sentenced.
Strategic restructure to transform industry competence
EBSSA becomes part of a new industry competence structure.
Major overhaul of planning committees proposed by government
Planning decisions set to be fast-tracked to tackle the housing crisis.
Industry Competence Steering Group restructure
ICSG transitions to the Industry Competence Committee (ICC) under the Building Safety Regulator (BSR).
Principal Contractor Competency Certification Scheme
CIOB PCCCS competence framework for Principal Contractors.
The CIAT Principal Designer register
Issues explained via a series of FAQs.
Comments
Just FYI, adobe is not a Spanish word. It comes from Arabic and was incorporated into the Spanish language.