Get hands-on experience with rammed earth material mixing, delivery, and ramming; and formwork construction. Participants are on-site for 8 hours a day, building a rammed earth home. Come expecting to work! 

You'll attend daily classroom sessions on rammed earth theory, the SIREWALL system, sustainable design and the SIREWALL Consulting processes. 

Each  participant will have opportunities during the in-person practicum to consult one-on-one with field experts. Get your rammed earth questions answered, pertaining to YOUR specific project. We have SIREWALL Expert Builders, architects and interior designers available for sessions with you. 

It is extremely rare that participants leave with unanswered questions, despite some of them coming with very long lists! The main benefit to the amount of group learning we offer is that participants leave with answers, even to questions they hadn’t yet thought to ask.

Meet like-minded doers. Form connections with passionate green thinkers. 

Receive five modules of virtual reading and videos during the month leading up to the course. You'll receive one module per week, each one building on the last. Online pre-course content gives a holistic overview of healthy and responsible building systems. We cover topics such as the history of rammed earth & SIREWALL, North American building standards, and the relationship between health and the built environment. 

Michael Palethorpe (SIREWALL Master Earth Mason and Co-Owner of SIREWALL USA, LLC.) hosts this multi-day SIREWALL course, that will change perceptions about building green and inspire new ways of thinking. 

Ricky Stoner (Red Earth Ranch Owner and DIY SIREWALL Builder) leads course participants through the building process while sharing his rammed earth building experience as a past SIREWALL USA Course Participant. 

Joss Krayenhoff (SIREWALL Master Earth Mason, Owner of Terra Firma Builders and SIREWALL USA, LLC) offers one-on-one personal project consultation.

Andrea Keller (4D Design, architect specializing in rammed earth design and sacred geometries) offers one-on-one personal project consultation.

The courses are designed for people from all walks of life. Those who have already benefited from our courses include:

• architects
• building inspectors
• developers
• DIYers
• engineers
• environmental ambassadors
• contractors

What people get out of the course is driven by what they want to learn. For some people, the engineering segment is the most interesting, while others benefit most from experiencing hands-on building method. 

Some people love networking with like-minded individuals, while others are moved and enlightened by the depth and breadth of our green conversations.

Those who participate in the practicum gain a deep and tactile understanding of the inherent pleasure in building in a way that not only aligns up with their values but is also a fun team-based endeavor.

What is shared by almost all participants is the realization that what is now possible in building goes far beyond what conventional building offers.

We became disillusioned with conventional homebuilding and made the move to SIREWALL. It is so important that people stop building toxic, disposable homes as such practices wreak havoc on the environment and are largely responsible for climate change. Building with SIREWALL is a sustainable solution that can lead to positive change, and we’re passionate about spreading the word.

Jason McLennan, the creator of The Living Building Challenge, described SIREWALL as "The best wall system on the planet." We want this life-altering technology to become accessible to a greater audience. 

SIREWALL is a proprietary engineered sandstone wall – capable of extremely high strength for nearly any structural or decorative application, with high R-values for superior thermal performance in any climate region. Simply put, it is rammed earth reconsidered and brought into the modern age.

Ways in which SIREWALL stands apart from other rammed earth include:

Insulated walls capable of storing heat and regulating humidity, even in harsh climates. The combination of mass and insulation is unique and provides superior results. Rammed earth and stick-frame construction only provides the benefit of one (mass or insulation). 

We are able to achieve a fine surface finish through specialized forming methods that results in professional, quality finished walls. We intentionally curate our mix designs to ensure the material blend gives a fine, even finish. 

Weak rammed earth is vulnerable to dusting which create aesthetic, durabillity and maintenance issues. SIREWALL has eliminated these issues. 

The SIREWALL system relies upon a series of advanced protocols that make rammed earth strong enough to compete with concrete as a structural material and thus make it possible to design anything from a small garden wall to large commercial buildings with the many beneficial qualities of rammed earth, previously only available to residential construction. SIREWALL Inc.’s technology is the only rammed earth system in the world capable of tall, load-bearing commercial applications, and it outperforms other types of rammed earth in many other ways — learn more at SIREWALL.com.

The longest, tallest, and strongest rammed earth walls in the world are all SIREWALL.

Your goal may not be to build a 100-foot tall rammed earth tower, but this technically rigorous course will give you an intimate understanding of how and why rammed earth works—and what it takes to make it great, at any scale!

“Rammed earth is easy to do—but difficult to do well.” –Meror Krayenhoff, SIREWALL inventor

Payment is due upon registration. Refunds are available up to 30 days prior to the start of the course, minus a $200 processing fee. If you cancel within the 30 days prior to the start of the course, there will be no refund given.

There are several ways to build formwork and rammed earth. During a one-week course, we are able to give you hands-on experience with one of each forming and building method.

We discuss the general theory of curating a mix design and go through our mix design process. However, we are not able to provide the training to curate your own mix design during the course. 

Beyond the set course agenda, the subject matter of the course is determined by the questions, interests & projects participants bring.