Atelierfy: Expertise in Traditional and Sustainable Building Techniques

Words: Fatih Yazar

Atelierfy is a construction and design studio specializing in traditional and sustainable building techniques and materials. Our goal is to develop innovative ideas for more sustainable buildings and cities and to bring these ideas to life. We integrate natural building materials such as stone and earth with modern construction techniques, offering sustainable and economical solutions.



Restoration and Modern Applications

We actively participate in restoration projects, focusing on the preservation and enhancement of historical structures. We provide solutions in areas such as load-bearing wall construction, facade cladding, and landscape element production using stone and earth materials. Additionally, we specialize in creating curved architectural elements like vaults and arches and integrating them with modern building materials.



Excavation Waste Recycling

Our excavation waste recycling project focuses on transforming the soil extracted from construction sites into building elements. This approach allows the soil from the same site to be reused as building material within the same structure.



Atelierfy's journey, which began with the construction and restoration of stone structures, continues with the production of earth bricks and the construction of earth buildings. The earth blocks we produce are high-quality building materials that are recyclable, have a low carbon footprint, and meet all necessary standards.

Our compressed earth bricks, which we were the first to produce in Turkey, represent a significant innovation both environmentally and aesthetically. These bricks serve as a strong alternative to traditional stone masonry systems, offering ease of use and a high potential for creative design. Our expert teams successfully execute the construction of load-bearing walls, arches, vaults, and curved architectural elements. We also conduct structural analyses, load calculations, and sizing for masonry structures in compliance with regulations.





 

Technical Specifications

The earth bricks we produce have a compressive strength of 8-10 MPa, a water absorption rate of 10%, and high freeze resistance. They do not deform upon contact with water and have a thermal conductivity coefficient of 0.4 W/mK.
Their unit weight is 1800 kg/m³.

In our latest project, we used bricks with a compressive strength of 8 MPa to build 50 cm thick walls. We placed flat arches over the windows and added arches on top of flat beams to reduce the load. The variable-section barrel vault placed on a reinforced concrete beam lightened the vault and reduced the stress on the walls.

 

Our Facility in Şanlıurfa, Turkey

Our facility is located in Şanlıurfa, in southeastern Turkey, where we process excavation waste soil from construction sites and convert it into earth bricks. This approach addresses both the problem of storing waste soil and the need for transporting materials from outside the city.

Earth bricks provide excellent thermal insulation due to their high strength, low water absorption, and high thermal mass. Additionally, they are more advantageous than stone for creating curved structural elements; their smaller size and lighter weight make them easier to construct. In our latest project, the vault we built using earth bricks was one-third lighter than a stone vault of the same dimensions. This reduction in weight is due to both the lower unit weight of the bricks and the optimization of the vault’s cross-section.



Environmental Advantages

Our earth bricks do not require clay quarries for production, and the manufacturing process does not involve thermal treatment, making it extremely environmentally friendly. These bricks are easily recyclable and reusable, offering a strong alternative to stone structures with a wide range of applications. They can be used in wall cladding, arches, vaults, flooring, and perimeter walls. Additionally, the larger size of the bricks reduces the number of joints, contributing positively to the aesthetic of the structure.

  
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