French-Property.com

Gascony Pisé / Rammed Earth Properties

Pisé walls are some of the most traditional features you will see in the Gascony area. These building techniques are used in some area of the world like Morocco to create stunning cities. In Gers, they are proofs of an outstanding ancient local savoir-faire.

Some houses around the Fleurance region of Gers have walls made of pisé (rammed earth). Pisé is known as rammed earth or cobwork in English. It is a building material which uses rammed earth shaped between two parallel frames called forms. This gives a really nice aspect to these Gascony houses.
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Pisé is a “living” material that lets the air go trough the walls. It is a most natural and green material, and its colour can change slightly according to the hour and exposure to the sun of the house, and in Gascony is is important due to the massive annual amount of sun exposure.
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Rammed earth construction reflects, without interpretation, the natural colours of the locality and can make you save on energy, since the embodied energy needed to build it is so low compared to modern building techniques used in France. Gascony Pisé houses are pretty rare but can still be found in the Gers French department.