Aerecura began with a question:
‘Can we build better?’

Long before Aerecura became a company, co-founder Sylvia Cook was searching for a different way to build.

Driven by a desire to create the most sustainable home she could, Sylvia began exploring the relationship between natural materials, building performance, energy use, and the long-term impact our homes have on both people and the environment.

At a time when conversations about sustainable building were still relatively uncommon — and when women remained significantly underrepresented in construction — Sylvia found herself drawn toward approaches that challenged conventional thinking. She believed homes could be built differently: with greater care for materials, energy use, durability, and the people who would live within them.

That search eventually led her to rammed earth.

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Under construction rammed earth with wooden formwork, construction worker on site, surrounded by trees.
A smiling woman wearing a yellow safety vest, orange hard hat, yellow gloves, and glasses stands outdoors in a wooded area, holding rolled-up papers.
A rammed earth modern house with large windows illuminated from inside, surrounded by trees and snow, under a dark blue evening sky.
A colorful landscape painting hangs on a rammed earth wall In front of the wall, there are two black rattan chairs with white cushion covers featuring a black leaf pattern.
A woman with short gray hair wearing glasses and a beige sweater is standing at a kitchen counter with a sink, preparing food. The background shows a window with sunlight and trees outside.
Two elderly people, a man and a woman, are in a cozy kitchen with rammed earth walls. The kitchen has a warm atmosphere with natural light coming through the window.
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Drawn to rammed earth for its durability, thermal performance, longevity, and natural beauty, Sylvia saw in the material many of the values she believed should guide the future of building. Together with her son Graham and architect Terrell Wong, those ideas took shape in the form of Ontario's first modern rammed earth home, completed in Castleton in 2010.

Through Ontario winters, summer heat, power outages, changing technologies, and the everyday rhythms of family life, Sylvia's home has continued to demonstrate the comfort, resilience, and durability that inspired its construction. Those lessons remain deeply woven into Aerecura's approach today.

Sylvia's vision to build better wasn't simply the beginning of Aerecura. Nearly two decades later, it continues to guide the way we design, build, and think about the future of housing.

→ Continue Reading: Foundations — A Conversation with Sylvia Cook & Graham Cavalier

Foundations Series: A conversation with Sylvia Cook and Graham Cavalier

A closer look at the origins of Aerecura, the development of rammed earth in Ontario, and the thinking behind our approach to building.