About Us
SIREWALL is not for everyone… and we are making it more accessible for people everyday.
While we are certainly open to talking to all interested parties about working with SIREWALL, we are not looking for customers in the conventional sense. We are committed to developing partnerships to create exceptional projects that deliver FJA!!!
More on FJA below
Making people happy and healthy
From the architects, to the installers, to clients, all our walls in every building put a smile on your face, and are the stand out features and the things in the building that you gravitate to first.
For example, we built a large home (70,000 sq ft) called Strata and it has the highest end products available in every square inch of the home. It has perfect cabinets, counters and a $1M sounds system in the home. The property manager tells us that when guests visit the house they don’t pay any attention to that stuff, they all immediately go to the SIREWALL walls captivated by them and start touching them.
Our Team
Given the demand we have for our consulting and building services we are only a good fit for people looking to operate from similar values and intentions, and looking for new ways of doing things in the world.
A good sense of humor and a dash of political incorrectness is a big plus.
Reach out if you are curious and would like more information, have specific questions you would like to have answered, are seriously looking at partnering up on a build and need a full consultation, or are just lonely and need someone interesting to talk to...
Meror Krayenhoff
Inventor of SIREWALL
Meror is the inventor of SIREWALL, he has 40+ years in the construction industry and 30+ years in the research and development of the SIREWALL system.
Michael Palethorpe
Head of Operations & Management of the US branch of SIREWALL
Michael has over 30 years of experience in project management, managing businesses and projects of all sizes and complexities. He has extensive experience running businesses of all different kinds, including being project manager for SIREWALL USA on one of the 10 largest homes (70,000 sq ft) in the USA, involving features and details that have never been done before in rammed earth.
Michael is in charge of US project consultation including (but not limited to): SIREWALL relationship liaison for US projects, plan review and project specific detail recommendations, soil analysis and project specific mix design, training of local contractors, site managers and crew in SIREWALL means and methods, quality control and quality assurance throughout the duration of projects; this is managed through onsite work inspections at key points in the means and methods process and the management of project efficiencies and excellence throughout the project, to the completion of the project.
Michael is passionately committed to altering how people and the planet are impacted by the buildings we inhabit.
Joss Krayenhoff
Owner Terrafirma Builders, SIREWALL Canada, Partner in SIREWALL USA
Joss has 20+ years of SIREWALL experience and has been involved in much of the R&D to create and evolve our systems. Starting out as the clean up kid on site and growing through each role in the company, Joss now operates the Canadian branch of SIREWALL and works with the SIREWALL USA core team to help manage the US operations. His life purpose is in creating places that fundamentally shift the way people live and interact with the world. He thinks there must be more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking and is continuing to figure out what that is.
Joss is our in house expert on SIREWALL and supports the US consulting including (but not limited to): Detailed plan review and project specific detail recommendations, mix design review and recommendations, Means and Methods review, consulting on, and troubleshooting challenges that occur during a build.
Arin Smith
Internal Operations & Project Consultation
Born into a family of builders, educators, designers and concrete craftsmen, Arin grew up surrounded by creativity and resourcefulness. He learned early on that building is about vision and community.
With over a decade of experience designing and building homes, Arin has always looked for better ways to create spaces of contentment. Seeing housing slip further out of reach for many families pushed him to find a new way forward — one rooted in human connection.
Arin draws on a background in construction, sustainable planning, community development and natural resource management. He approaches each project with a spirit of creativity and care, weaving together purpose, learning and our relationship with the Earth.
Our philosophy = FJA!!!
We are committed to creating exceptional peace of mind and enjoyment to do business with. To be a business that if you wanted to you could do a handshake agreement and have more peace than any contract could buy. Our integrity is simply based on FJA!!!
FJA!!! is our subtle way of expressing F*#K YEAH!!! There is a certain exuberance that calls forth a phrase like F*#K YEAH!!!. We aspire to have every interaction, product, experience, and conversation leave clients, partners, people, communities, and the planet feeling or experiencing F*#K YEAH!!!
Our Awards
Residential Awards from Canadian Home Builders Assoc.
Best Single Family Detached Home 2000-2999 sq ft
Best Master Suite New
Sustainability Award
2001 - 2006
Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) Award for Innovation in Architecture
2007
World Architecture Festival, Holiday Category Winner
NK’MIP
2008
Governor General’s Medal in Architecture (Canada)
NK’MIP
2008
SIREWALL selected for Living Building Challenge and LEED Platinum Van Dusen Botanical Gardens in Vancouver, BC
2010
Architecture Festival
Festival Finalist in the Office Category
2018
World Travel Awards
2021 - 2024
Get started with SIREWALL today.
SIREWALL Firsts
Invention of structural insulated rammed earth by Meror Krayenhoff of SIREWALL
1992
1993
First code-approved insulated rammed earth project in the world
1994
First curved insulated rammed earth in the world
1995
First fully buried (underground house) insulated rammed earth in the world
First two storey, curving insulated rammed earth in the world, creation of the SIREWALL System
1997
First commercial SIREWALL building in the world (NK’Mip Desert Cultural Centre)
2005
World Intellectual Property Office approves the novelty, utility, and marketability of all 86 claims toward patent on the SIREWALL system
2008
SIREWALL selected for Living Building Challenge and LEED Platinum Van Dusen Botanical Gardens in Vancouver, BC
2010
New Zealand Patent #575594 issued
2011
New Zealand Patent #575594 issued
2012
US Patent #8375669 and Canadian Patent #2660979 issued
2013
Tallest load-bearing, modern earth building (52′ tall) Brinton Museum in Wyoming completed
2016
Walls complete on first large scale public SIREWALL structure in France – Narbo Via history museum designed by Foster & Partners
2017
First SIREWALL project in Pakistan complete, Telenor 345 head office complex
2018
First rammed earth lintel over an invisible corner window. NDA project in AZ.
2019
First rammed earth building at over 7,000 psi. 2 AND U Building Seattle.
2018
First SIREWALL project in Australia.
2025
First SIREWALL project in California.
2020
First SIREWALL project in Paraguay.
2022
SIREWALL Highlights
SIREWALL holds all records in rammed earth. The Strongest, Tallest, Longest, Structural, and Delivery records.
Tallest rammed earth tower:
100′ tall SIREWALL (Pakistan, Completed 2018)
Tallest rammed earth stairwell:
60′ tall SIREWALL, (Pakistan, Completed 2018)
Tallest rammed earth building spine:
51′ tall SIREWALL (Brinton Museum Sheridan, WY, Completed 2014)
Tallest competitor’s rammed earth wall is 26′.
If anyone knows of a taller wall please inform us and we will change this
Strongest average SIREWALL strength:
Skanska project, Seattle, WA ~ 7250 psi (2+U Project, Completed 2019 )
Van Dusen project, Vancouver, BC ~ 6090 psi (Completed: 2011)
Lalit Mangar project, Dehi, India ~ 4350 psi
Deepest backfill:
30′ (Brinton Museum, Sheridan, WY, Completed 2014)
Many competitors require their rammed earth to sit on a stem wall so it doesn’t even venture below grade.
Longest lintel:
41′ (Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Center, Completed 2006)
47' (Edmonton Valley Zoo, Completed in 2013)
Heaviest hanging rammed earth section:
100 tons (Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Center, Completed 2006)
Longest Rammed earth Perimeter wall:
Telenor 345: 3273.6 feet (0.62 mi.) long x 9.8 ft. tall (Pakistan, Completed 2018 )
Most production in one day:
110.5 cu.yd. (NDA project in AZ, Completed: 2019)
Largest gang form panel:
32′ x 28′ = 896 sq.ft. (Brinton Museum, Sheridan, WY, Completed 2014)