UTech, Ja. Voices

VOICES Bi-Monthly Magazine of the University of Technology, Jamaica | January – April 2020 8 T he University of Technology, Jamaica through its Caribbean School of Architecture, collaborated with Touraterre, a French organization of architects promoting raw earth architecture and construction techniques, to design and build a “raw earth” or adobe mud prototype in the hills of Irish Town, St Andrew. Dubbed the “a IT dat Mud House Project”, the house was constructed in 2016 in the tradition of the wattle and daub method of building, with mud from the Blue Mountains, and coconut tree fibres sourced from the Coconut Industry Board of Jamaica. The project commenced with a design workshop with eight architectural students in 2016, and construction was completed in December 2019, with additional input from the International Centre on Earthen Architecture (CRAterre), and the National Environmental & Planning Agency (NEPA). The design of the house, initially a small guest house, was reimagined as a farm house, and was chosen from a competition open to students from the Caribbean School of Architecture and students of Architecture from France. The building was erected by CSA students and community members of Irish Town. It consists of a mud-fiber mixture wrapped around a wooden frame, with a lime finish applied to protect the outer layer. Mr Adrien Jacques le Seigneur, lead architect,Touraterre, pointed out that the technique of wattle and daub construction used to build the prototype was a mixture of British, Taino and Jamaican traditions, that was reinterpreted to fit modern methods of construction. He however, pointed out that the construction was not without its challenges. “It was a big challenge on this Architecture Students Collaborate with Touraterre for “Raw Earth” Mud Prototype Construction Project