Rammed earth trophies celebrate the AR Emerging Architecture awards

The AR Emerging Architecture awards (AREA) celebrate architects at the beginning of their careers, finding new and original ways of practicing architecture on our planet. The winner of AREA, as well as the winner of the editors’ choice award, the Peter Davey Prize, will be announced on 26 November at our live virtual event, and will each receive a specially commissioned trophy.

This year’s trophies, crafted from rammed earth, were designed and made by UK-based product designer Elliot Lunn, a recent graduate of the Royal College of Art’s Design Products MA. Rammed earth is a low-carbon and low-energy material, and a common building practice in many parts of the world for millennia.

Rammed earth is heavily dependent on its location and immediate site; the ingredients used in these trophies were all found in the immediate vicinity of Lunn’s workshop, omitting the need to transport the materials to site. Lunn carefully tested different combinations before settling on the final recipe: 87 per cent sieved mud from his garden in Somerset, 10 per cent grit and 3 per cent cement.

Cement is one of the most ecologically damaging building materials globally; half of concrete’s carbon emissions is created in the production of clinker for cement. The small amount in this recipe was found discarded on-site, and was required to stabilise the material to allow for handling and transportation.

Three mixes were used in each trophy: one with no colour additive, one with added terracotta, and one with a charcoal additive. The three mixes were added to a plywood mould – which included a 3D-printed AREA logo – and compressed. They were left in their moulds for 24 hours to dry out and then released from their moulds to dry completely.

Each trophy is carefully packaged in a specially made plywood box and packed with sawdust, ready to be sent to their new homes once the winner is announced on 26 November.