Light Earth Designs

Light Earth Designs LLP is a partnership between award winning architects Peter Rich, Timothy Hall and architect/engineer Michael Ramage. Light Earth Designs have developed an innovative and award winning thin shell vaulting technology – a fusion of advanced structural analysis, architectural design with labour intensive, locally sourced material production offering a much needed solution to building sustainably in the developing world context. Light Earth Designs has pioneered vaulting using locally made air dried hand pressed soil tiles. With two multi award winning built works completed to date (Mapungubwe Interpretation centre in South Africa (winner of the 2009 World Building of the Year) and The Earth Pavilion for the Prince of Wales Start exhibition in London) this method of construction has proved to be innovative, cost effective and beautiful. The FR2 offices in Chicago applies this soil tiled vaulting in a developed world context, whilst exciting new vaulted projects in South Africa, Ethiopia and Rwanda will over the course of the next two years demonstrate that wonderful buildings can be built sustainably and economically by local people. Recent projects in Rwanda have experimented with local fast growing timbers, lightweight terracotta flooring (fired using coffee husks) and lightweight locally produced composite straw panels. Light Earth Designs is committed to designing, engineering and implementing sustainable and locally made building solutions.