Building with earth could transform sustainable construction – here’s how

Imagine you are standing in front of a multimillion-pound building in the centre of the French city, Lyon. It radiates warmth and history with its rammed earth structural walls. Two hundred miles away, a small house in the Beaucastel winery, Provence, shares a similar texture and aesthetic.

The soil used for both buildings was excavated earth that had been considered waste, leftover from the construction site or excavated from the nearby area. It was destined for landfills.

Once mixed with water and compacted...