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Information on Cobworks, cob houses, cobing, and earthhouses All Cob and Natural Building Workshops provide an exciting opportunity to learn: through hands-on practice, presentations, teamwork and the fun of working as a group. Cobworks Instructors Cob workshop and Cob Building Photos What's an Earth house? Links to other sites about Cob Homes and Natural Building.


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Building a cob wall.

2008 WORKSHOPS:

All Workshops provide an exciting opportunity to learn: through hands-on practice, presentations, teamwork and the fun of working as a group. Below is a list of upcoming workshops. Except where noted, fees include the use of camping facilities and 3 vegetarian meals daily. To register for a workshop please send a $200 deposit to the workshop instructor. Payment methods: Cash or postal money orders only. The balance is payable upon arrival. Do not make travel arrangements until the course has been confirmed.

2008 Workshops

April 18-20,2008

For more information contact Elke@cobworks.com.

to register: www.ourecovillage.org

Design your own Natural House-
Ecological Design for homeowners

Workshop at O.U.R.Ecovillage, Shawnigan Lake

Facilitator: Elke Cole, natural house designer/ builder

The first step to making the dream of a natural house your reality is creating a design. From choosing a good site, basics of passive solar design , over space saving startegies to choosing the appropriate materials for your project- we will present ideas, exercises, and information, share experiences and support your personal process. A packed weekend course to get you started

Friday night, Saturday day and evening and Sunday day

 

May 28 - June 1, 2008

to register: www.ourecovillage.org

Frame and Infill Wallsystems

Workshop at O.U.R. Ecovillage, Shawnigan Lake

Instructors: Elke Cole and others

So you have a nice timberframe structure : the bones of the building. Now what's the skin of the building? Or you've taken the old skin off your framed house and want to “naturalize”?

Natural ways for infill include varieties of working with “light clay” , straw or cob.
We'll discuss detailing, finishing options and possibilities while working on the Art Studio walls with light clay.
3 days

June 1-7

For more information
please contact
pat@cobworks.com

Basic Carpentry and "Ya gotta see it to believe it" Roof Workshop

7 Days
Mayne Island
$800.00

In this workshop we will learn conventional framing
techniques and experiment with an unconventional roof
system. No prior carpentry skills required!

Framing skills:
- proper use of power tools
- jobsite safety
- framing walls, windows and doors

Roof construction:
Our new favorite words are "Hyperbolic Parabaloid
Latex Cement Habitat" Got that? In our ongoing quest
to find inexpensive, recycled materials for our
earthen buildings, we learned about this roofing
system designed by Dr. Albert Knott and Dr. George Nez
for a Engineers Without Borders project. This system
was used as an economical, lightweight--yet extremely
strong--roof solution for earthen buildings in
Afghanistan. Interested participants can refer to this
link for some written information and photos.

 

June 13- 22, 2008 with “weekend only” options for June 13-15 and June 20-22

To register go to
http://www.elkecole.com/

Let's build cob in Texas

Cob building workshop

Location: near George West in rural south Texas

On beautiful old ranch land among the oak trees in rural Texas is the site for Lyn's house. The family has owned the land for a couple of generations and Lyn is putting her house and heart right there where she feels most connected to place.
This workshop will bring together technical learning of cob construction as well as the experience of working together, exploring new ideas and exchanging our thoughts.

We teach about natural house design, about materials, techniques and philosophy.
You will gain practical skills in cob building: mixing , wallbuilding, arches, connections and sculpting.

Cost: Full time June 13-22 : $800 (10% discount for registration before March 15)
Weekend 1: June 13-15 : $ 300
Weekend 2: June 20-22: $ 300
Both weekends: $ 500

Low income/ students can ask for a 10 % discount.

Cost includes daily Lunch and snack, dinner when evening program is planned.

Accommodation options: Rooms available in George West, Three Rivers, Beeville, park camping within 30 miles
Distances: George West 15 min
Corpus Christi 60 min
San Antonio 1-1/2 hrs
Austin 2 ½ hrs

Camp on site at no extra cost- make your own/ potluck breakfast and dinner.

June 27- 29, 2008

to register: www.ourecovillage.org

Building as if people mattered

a look at Natural Building as it meets conventional construction

Location: O.U.R. Ecovillage, Shawnigan Lake

House building has developed from traditional, vernacular, handmade to industrialized, mechanical and highly specialized. The natural building movement brings back to our awareness what we have given up in that process: the personal investment in building one's home, the expectation of a building that is to scale with human need rather than want, the respect for people and place.
Join us for a week of discussion and hands-on practice of natural building techniques.

Each day will contain presentations, discussion and some real physical work to help digest the information.

This course is directed at anyone involved with building, we ask that you read “The Art of Natural Building “ or “The handsculpted house” if possible. Be prepared to try unfamiliar things both physical and ideological. You will leave with some answers, more questions and a desire to be part of the solution for a path to sustainability.
Facilitators: Elke Cole, natural house designer/ builder and builders and engineers
Time: 3 days and evenings

 

July 2-6, 2008

to register: www.ourecovillage.org

Building Cob and Community at O.U.R. Ecovillage

Location: O.U.R. Ecovillage, Shawnigan Lake

Instructors: Elke Cole and others

Cob building is learned quite easily by people from all walks of life. We work together, learn from each other and discover our connections through activity and reflection.

Technical learning includes materials, recipes, building instruction, attaching doors/ windows, building arches.

We start on foot and will introduce some machine mixing along the way.
Age 14 and up

5 days

 

July 6th-July 18th, 2008

contact pat@cobworks.com for more information

Cob and Community

Mayne Island
$1500

Please join us as we build a cob home for one of our participants from last year's C&C project. Jen's house will be 600 square feet with a post and beam frame made out of beach logs. We will also build all of the the window and door frames. Participants will learn every aspect of cob construction: identifying materials, design and siting, mixing, building techniques, niches, sculptural elements and attachments. Participants will have the unique opportunity to tour some of the completed Mayne Island cob houses. We will also answer many questions about
natural building during our theory classes: grey water, composting toilets, passive solar, heating, permits, electrical and plumbing, living roofs, earthen floors etc!

Working and living together as a small community is fun! Shared meals and evening events are a great way to make new friends. (The kind of friends who will help you when it is time to build your own dream cob!

:) Meals will be wholesome vegetarian and as organic and local as possible.

This workshop will give you the skills and confidence to take on your own cob project.

For more information contact pat@cobworks.com or phone 250 539 5253. (We are currently cobbing in Baja but will be back in April.)

Pat and Kit---Cobworks

Cobbing in the Baja

CANYON DE LA ZORRA: February 1st-28th, 2008

This will be our second project for Señor de la Peña and his family. The project is located 8KM above the town of Santiago in the mountains of the La Laguna Biosphere Reserve. There is a 50 foot waterfall within hiking distance of our worksite, as well as hot springs to explore on rest days. In addition to laughing, singing, eating, (and making friends that you will probably keep in contact with long after the course is over), we will cover all of the basics of cob mixing and building. We will have plenty of hands-on experience installing doors and windows, sculpting niches and reliefs, and wiring for electricity. There will also be theory discussions which include: siting, design, foundations, drainage, passive solar, earthen floors, finding and identifying materials, roof design, grey water systems, composting toilets, plumbing, wiring, and plastering. By the end of the workshop you will have the confidence and skill to take on your own cob project.

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT: This year we have the unique opportunity to construct a museum of local natural history for the biosphere reserve. The purpose of this project is two-fold: to give participants the cobbing skills necessary to build their own home, and, to pass on those skills to local Mexican people. We will be hiring local Mexican builders to join us and have offered this course free of charge to any local residents. We believe that this will benefit both our community experience during the workshop, as well as the potential for greater exposure of natural building to the surrounding community. We hope you are looking forward to this unique and wonderful building experience as much as we are.

TRANSPORTATION: Participants should make their own travel arrangements to meet us in the Baja. If you choose to fly in to San Jose Del Cabo ("SJD" is the airport code) between Jan 29-31, we will pick you up from the airport. If you are driving down, we will give you detailed directions for meeting us in Santiago.

CAMP LIFE: We will be camping in the biosphere reserve. Please bring a tent, sleeping bag, sleeping cushion and a flashlight. The days will be hot but the nights cool down considerably, so bring warm and cool weather clothing. Everyone is encouraged to bring musical instruments, stories and jokes, and a good sense of humor to our nightly campfire! If anyone needs to stay in contact with the outside world, there is internet and phone access in the town of Santiago. As for cobbing, please bring work gloves with rubber palms, cobbing shoes (old sneakers with little tread, boots or water socks), a sun hat and sun lotion.

MEALS: We will eat in camp on cobbing days. Our host family will provide traditional Mexican meals with local vegetables (organic as possible), homemade cheese and fresh tortillas. Meals will be geared toward vegetarians (although in the past they have honored us with either a goat, pig or ostrich.) Most participants choose to eat in town on days off (fish tacos, yum!!) but there is usually enough leftovers and simple provisions at the site for anyone who would like to take their rest days in camp.

FIELD TRIPS: In addition to instructing the course, we have refined our skills as "tour guides" over the years! We have planned weekend field trips to the hotsprings, snorkeling beaches and to visit our past projects in San Bartolo. There is also a 3 day break mid month when we visit the historic town of Todos Santos. (There is also excellent surfing in the nearby town of Pescadero.) We encourage everyone to explore the Baja and enjoy the "Magnificent Penninsula."

WORKSHOP COST: The price of the workshop is $1500 US.
You can register by sending a CANADIAN POSTAL MONEY ORDER in US funds or a US INTERNATIONAL POSTAL MONEY ORDER for $500 payable to:

Patrick Hennebery
S-10, C-103
Mayne Island B.C. V0N 2J0

The remainder can be paid in cash on arrival. Please feel free to email or phone us with any questions. Our phone number is 250-539-5253.

Hope to see you in Baja, amigo!

The Cobworks crew, Pat and Kit

Please feel free to email or phone us with any questions. Our phone number is 250 539 5253. Hope to see you in Baja, amigo!

The Cobworks crew, Pat and Kit

See pictures of previous projects:

2004: Rancho Tezal, San Bartolo

2005: Cañon de la Zorra, Santiago

2006: Rancho Tezal, San Bartolo

2007: Rancho Tezál, San Bartolo pix to come!!

For more listings of natural building workshops: cobworkshops.org

 

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