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Flexible Special Texture Series · MBHT
Rammed Earth Board
Rammed earth, without the 600 mm wall. Ten earth tones on a 4 mm sheet, six flat and four with a 3D-printed surface.
The pattern is the lift line: the horizontal seam where one 150 mm layer of earth was compacted onto the next, with the aggregate showing through and a slight bulge where the tamper ran. Ten colourways, from cream white through brown yellow and red to grey, plus four printed variants — cloud grey, sands brown, Mogao and aged.
A real rammed earth wall is 300 mm minimum, cured for weeks, and tested for compressive strength before anyone signs it off. This is 4 mm, weighs 6 kg per square metre, and goes on with a notched trowel. The trade is that it carries nothing and insulates nothing.
The seam is the pattern
Look at the texture shot and the horizontal band is the whole design. Get the setting out wrong and the seams run out of level with the ceiling, which is the one mistake that ruins the effect. Set the first course off the datum, not off the floor.
Two real jobs
The timber-framed shopfront is a coffee chain that wanted an earth wall and had a landlord who would not allow the load. The red one is a beachside kiosk where the panel went straight over blockwork, in the colour called Red, and has been in salt air for two years without a change.
Installed, rammed earth
Good for
- Feature walls where a solid earth wall is structurally impossible
- Restaurant and hotel interiors chasing a warm, matte, non-reflective surface
- Shopfronts on a landlord’s shell-and-core, with no load allowance
- Exteriors, on a drained and ventilated facade
Not for
- Walls that need to be scrubbed: the matte surface marks
- Anywhere a thermal mass figure is specified in the brief
- Tight external corners without a trim
Curving it
The 4 mm sheet takes a 250 mm radius cold. Beyond that it wants warmth and a former. On the curved kiosk front the panel was pre-bent on site over a plywood drum and held with straps overnight, which is the normal method.
Bent by hand, no heat
Ten earth tones
Six are flat mouldings: cream white, brown yellow, red, grey, mix colour red and mix colour yellow. Four are 3D printed with a finer, sandier surface: cloud grey, sands brown, Mogao and aged. The printed four are the ones that read as old.
Specification
Everything below applies to the Rammed Earth as supplied. Samples and datasheets come with the first quote.
| Sheet size | 1200 × 3000 mm |
|---|---|
| Thickness | 4 mm ± 0.5 mm |
| Weight | 6 kg/m² ± 0.5 |
| Substrate | Mineral powder, sand and fibreglass, pressed in a steel mould |
| Fire | EN 13501-1 A2-s1,d0, on a non-combustible substrate |
| Fixing | Polymer adhesive, or mechanical fixings on a ventilated frame |
| MOQ | Stocked colours ship from stock, no minimum |
| Lead time | 3–5 days for stock, 20–25 days for production |
Fitting it
Four steps, and the third one is the one that goes wrong.
Questions we get asked
Is it warmer than concrete?
To the touch, slightly, because it is thinner and less dense. It has almost no thermal mass, so it will not do what a 300 mm earth wall does for temperature swing.
Which colour is most popular?
Cream white for interiors and brown yellow for exteriors. Red is the one that gets photographed, and grey is the one that gets specified twice.
Can the seams be aligned with the ceiling?
Yes, and they should be. The seam pitch is set by the sheet, so work out the course height from the ceiling down and cut the bottom course to suit.
Does it need sealing outdoors?
A water-repellent sealer on the exposed face, renewed every five years or so in a polluted city. Inland and under an overhang, most installations never get one.
What is the difference between the flat and the 3D printed colours?
The printed four have a finer, sandier surface with less pronounced lift lines. They read as older and dustier, and they cost about 15% more.
Can it be used in a bathroom?
Yes, sealed. The matte surface marks with soap, so keep it off the shower wall itself and use it on the other three.
Sample of Rammed Earth
A4 offcut, posted from Ningbo, free. Ask for the colour card too — it has all seventeen textures in the series.
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