Cashmere farm, Yulin, Shaanxi, China, 2020

rammed earth

Place: Zurich
Built: 2019-on going
Materials: rammed earth
Partners: FTC Cashmere, Boltshauser Architekten AG, Oneartharch
Photos: LEHMAG AG, FTC Cashmere

Near the city of Yulin in Shaanxi province, a large goat farm for fairtrade cashmere wool is being built. The hilly terrain around the emerging farm will be terraced, as in the past centuries, for farming from loamy material. This material will also be used to build the walls of the stables, the feed store and other buildings. Under the management of Lehmag AG, the first material samples were successfully mixed and tested in 2019. Subsequently, according to the material analysis, the best mixture was used to tamp down the first smaller building.

In the following years, in international cooperation with partners in China, the farm was successively expanded with further buildings made of rammed earth. Training of local companies and their employees is a matter of course and an essential part of this project.