Rammed Clay – Building Material of the Future

Lehm Ton Erde (Loam Clay Earth) focuses on pushing the boundaries of rammed earth construction with quality design and craftsmanship. As masters of in-situ rammed earth construction, LTE has driven innovation and is now a world leader in the production of prefabricated rammed earth buildings.

Lecture in German

Martin Rauch, founder and managing director of Lehm Ton Erde (LTE) in Schlins, Austria, is internationally recognised as a leading expert in the field of rammed earth construction. He founded the company in 1984 as a sole proprietor for ceramics and earthen construction and then set up Lehm Ton Erde Baukunst in 1999. In the same year, the current studio and operations centre was built, where he presents his accumulated knowledge in earthen construction.

The focus on building processes and materials that are as sustainable as possible means that LTE works with unstabilised rammed earth – unstabilised means that no cement, lime or chemical binders are added to the earth mixture, making the product 100% recyclable. This method ensures that the water used in manufacturing is free of toxic chemicals, that the rammed earth can passively regulate moisture, and that the finished walls can be made without expansion joints or cold joints. The enormous thermal mass of rammed earth walls also serves as a heat battery, an optimal heat sink for passive temperature regulation.

LTE’s rammed earth walls can be load-bearing walls, façade cladding or interior cladding. They are the only building material that fully complies with the Cradle to Cradle concept.

In the course of more than 35 years of working with clay, Rauch and LTE have completed over 100 projects around the world, published three books and led the industry in rammed earth innovation. With the nearly completed construction of the ERDEN Werkhalle, a new factory and headquarters for the production of prefabricated rammed earth products, LTE will be the leading manufacturer of prefabricated earth elements in the world.

The current team consists of 40 employees with different backgrounds, including design, crafts, construction, teaching, research and technology.