Solid Earth Adobe Buildings

About

Let us ignite your passion for Earth!

With over 200+ completed projects since 2002 and many years of teaching experience in NZ and abroad, Solid Earth Ltd is one of the most experienced natural building companies and the longest standing Adobe Brick manufacturer in the country.

Our focus is on creating beautiful, healthy living spaces that have minimal environmental footprint. We take pride in our state-of-the-art workmanship, extensive research and innovation in the field, as well as our contribution towards the NZ Earth Building Standards. We believe that natural building is the way of the future. Our company is dedicated to regenerative environmental practices, ethical employment, heart-centred leadership and community.

We specialize in the Adobe Brick technique, natural plasters over a range of substrates, earthen feature walls in timber-framed buildings, as well as the restoration of historic cob buildings. We carry out earth building construction work only, working in with other construction professionals and tradespeople as required.

Verena Maeder

I am an earth building artisan with 28 years of experience and have been a driving force in natural building in NZ since 2002. To date I have carried out over 200 building projects, ranging from pizza ovens to the construction of entire mud brick homes, to earthen and lime plasters over drywall or strawbale, to the restoration of numerous historic cob buildings.

In 2006 I designed and we built our own passive solar eco-home. This is me showing off the 5m tall feature wall in the living room, that is an earthen plaster artwork inspired by Pacific weaving.

I am trained in Architecture as well as Building Biology and Ecology (BBE) in Switzerland, where I have done extensive research on earth building and have written a paper on the health aspects of earth as a building material. Working in construction instead of architectural design was a lifestyle choice for me.

From 2007-2014 I was the chairwoman of the Earth Building Association NZ. I am currently part of the committee in charge of the revision of the NZ Earth Building Standards. I feel very privileged to have received the 2017 Tradeswoman of the Year Award by the National Association of Women in Construction.

The focus of my work is on state-of-the-art workmanship, the creation of healthy living spaces, artistic expression as well as the integration of natural materials in existing buildings or timber-framed buildings (hybrid construction).

I also really enjoy teaching and sharing my extensive experience with people. For the past 17 years, I have been sharing my knowledge of natural building with hundreds of people through workshops and community projects. I am now adding consultancy and web-based tuition to my offerings, because I am convinced that there is scope for more people to fast track turning their dreams into reality – by learning hands-on with my guidance on their own earth building projects.

Scott Davidson

I learned about earth building 13 years ago when I met Verena, and to this day am struck by the beauty and substance of this type of construction. Before joining Solid Earth, I have worked both as a landscaper and a carpenter for many years, here in NZ and overseas.

I am a creative person with attention to quality and detail. I love the flexibility of earth building and how it can be organic as well as very modern in its style. I feel excited by the creative potential of natural building materials and love working with earth, stone, timber, lime and straw.

The focus of my work is on producing high-quality, healthy building products and finishes, that are made from locally sourced materials and have a low carbon footprint. I also enjoy leading the team on-site and making sure everyone is looked after and happy.

Earth building comes naturally to me because it is a bit like cooking, and I am an awesome cook who never follows a recipe and likes experimenting.

Verena and I are a great team and our individual strengths complement each other beautifully. I bring a strong and steady quality to our work and am stepping into heart-centred leadership in the business.

Testimonials

A thorough and extensive workshop on all aspects of earth building and wall finishing, wonderfully presented by passionate and experienced hosts. Enough theory to aid understanding and plenty of hands on experience to give a good feel for the material and it's many uses in construction. Highly recommended for those who are just curious through to those who are about to build.

Ian Astbury

We were delighted, and relieved, to find someone of Verena’s calibre who could help us with a complex 1860s cob cottage conservation project. Her expertise was invaluable to develop the project with funders, engineers, builders, and the building conservator. She was able to diagnose particular problems through careful research, her team worked incredibly well to get the job done, and we couldn’t be more happy with the results.

Steve Austin

Our design and build 187m2 new home has been years in the planning. We discovered Verena and Scott and their awesome product while we were living in Nelson. Verena was exceptionally helpful with integrating the earth brick into our design. Throughout the whole process we have found Solid Earth Ltd extremely helpful, friendly and totally professional. The scientific and technical information supplied for Building Consent definitely helped our project across the line. We would not hesitate to recommend Solid Earth Ltd to anyone considering an earth brick project.

Ali and Joy Kingan

I came to the Solid Earth summer workshop without any experience and with a relatively small amount of previous study on Earth building; I left with a comprehensive base-level understanding of the material, the techniques, the theory and the practicality and perhaps most importantly, a feeling of competency in working with clay. Verena was an excellent host who made the learning material accessible and relevant to all sorts of participants. I would highly recommend this workshop to anyone with an interest in incorporating clay into their lives!

Chrissy

We opted for building an adobe house after weighing up various earth-building options. Verena was invaluable in our building process – very responsive to our many email questions and really knowledgeable. She visited for two overnight stays – the first to teach us how to make the bricks and the second to get us laying them. Verena’s experience in building and design meant that these visits were fantastic for our confidence. She brings a ‘down-to-earth’, well-informed, and good-humoured approach firmly grounded in principles of sustainability and we would highly recommend her to anyone considering building in adobe.

Leigh Harrington