SUSTAINABLE ACCOMMODATION
Mayan Luxe Villas House and Mayan farm villas are constructed from rammed earth and feature recycled timbers. Built by owner Brett Gowley with the assistance of local builders and tradespeople, the house and villas were a labour of love with significant thought, research, dedication and attention to detail.
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Building background
Mayan Luxe Villas House was originally designed to be Brett and Jodie’s family home, with the idea of opening it as bespoke accommodation coming soon after Covid, when their café restaurant and catering business, BlackAnt Gourmet @ Kin Kin General Store had to adapt to the new rules and regulations regarding operations. Brett and Jodie decided in 2020 to complete their dream abode and offer it to guests.
The four new Mayan Farm Villas are due for completion shortly and complement the existing House accommodation, offering further opportunities for couples and groups to experience luxury, sustainable accommodation in a natural, rural setting.
RAMMED EARTH
Mayan Luxe Villas House and Mayan Farm Villas showcase the benefits of rammed earth homes not just for the occupants, but for the planet. Stabilised Rammed Earth Construction is an environmentally-sustainable building method that has a great CSIRO fire rating and high thermal mass properties – desirable in the Australian climate.
Rammed earth structures can provide the ultimate in ‘green’ construction. The natural thermal benefits associated with rammed earth walls means no air conditioning or heating is required. With a low carbon footprint and unlimited design capabilities, rammed earth offers beauty, practicality and requires little to no maintenance – no gyprock, insulation or paint! .
Our rammed earth walls were constructed from the earth dug on-site to create a dam to service Mayan Farm. By adding crushed granite and white cement, the ideal blend was created to provide perfect consistency for the building process and meet engineering and certification requirements. Steel reinforcement was used in the building as extra security, similar to core fill block walls.
As one of the oldest forms of construction, rammed earth dates back to the time of semi-Nomadic man in the Middle East. It pre-dates mud brick and was used in the construction of the Great Wall of China and other monumental structures of ancient times.
Rammed earth is still being used all over the world and is known as taipa in Portuguese, tapial or tapia in Spanish, tàpia in Catalan, pisé (de terre) in French, bijenica in Serbian, and hāngtǔ (夯土) in Chinese.
HEATING AND COOLING
Due to the natural thermal benefits associated with rammed earth walls, no air conditioning or heating is required, however ceiling fans are provided for extreme cases, with a timer allowing fans to automatically turn off after an allocated period of time.
RECYCLED TIMBERS
Much of the timber used has been recycled from Mayan Farm including local bridges and railway sleepers, or milled on-site using local timber from neighbouring properties. Each piece of timber has its own history and story to tell!
At Mayan Luxe Villas House, the large front entrance doors comprise timbers from the old slab hut on Mayan Farm when it was dairy country and are 200 years old. Off-cuts were used to finish the kitchen island bench. Door and window timber lintels and garden seats are local recycled old bridge timbers collected over the years by Brett. The alfresco gateways, tables, seats and garden borders are constructed from old railway sleepers.
SUSTAINABLE FEATURES
Electric cabling is run outside the walls instead of internally, hence light switches were chosen to be a feature of the property and made-to-order by melting down recycled metals only available from England. The lighting is all LED reducing unnecessary power consumption.
The polished concrete floors are a combination of local crusher dust and blue metal rocks with cement that has been ground and sealed for a low maintenance and hard wearing floor.
The Villas provide 100% of their own water by way of rain water catchment and storage and also have their own waste water systems.
The gardens feature drought tolerant plants with a focus on low maintenance to reflect the theme and design of the Villas.
The new Villas are located on land at Mayan Farm that was historically used for horse activities. We have protected the environmental and rural values of the area.
