During my years working with the group, which came to be known as the Good Earth Builders Natural Building Collective, I had the opportunity to participate in a number of projects and workshops on the Sunshine Coast. Most of our projects were small (no more than 100 sq ft) because natural building is completely new to the building inspectors who adhere to the standard building codes and there are currently no standard natural building codes as of yet - any structure under 100 sq ft does not require building inspector approval. So, we built things like garden sheds, benches and cob ovens.
Building with cob can be a slow process which can take years to complete, depending on the size of the project, due to the fact that it is labour-intensive and here on the "Wet-Coast," we have a much shorter dry season in which to build. The following photos highlight one of the projects I was able to see through from start to finish at a local farm and retreat centre called Deer Crossing the Art Farm (or the Art Farm, as it was nicknamed). We were commissioned to build a cob kitchen space (separate from the main house) for the use of guests.
Getting Started
Most projects begin with the laying of foundations, structural columns and roof rafters, around which we will position the cob. Once that is done, we begin mixing cob - and LOT'S of it!! Cob is made up of a mixture of clay and sand (ideally found in the land on-site, or brought in from local sources nearby) and water and straw. Normally, people involved in larger projects will use technology such as a rototiller to mix large batches of cob, but because as a natural building collective, we are a hands-on bunch, we mix cob in smaller batches with our feet!
Laying Cob
We typically have teams of people mixing cob and teams of people laying cob to build up the walls of the structure and then at some point we switch so that everyone gets a chance to perform all the different roles. In the following photo, my partner, Nina, and I are working together to build up the wall equally on either side (inside and outside) of the structure. You can see in this photo that we are in the process of embedding a glass brick into the cob wall. Once the walls begin to get higher, we need to stand on scaffolding or straw bales to reach the top of the wall.
Nadi is sitting on one of our straw bale scaffolding units....
When we start getting really high up on the walls, it is more efficient for people down below to pass up the cob mixture to us. Sandy is "serving up a platter of cob" to the people on the scaffolding.
Once we have completed as much cob-building as we can in one dry season, we wrap up our building to weather the rainy winter season until spring when we can continue building again.
Cedar Shake Roof
The following dry season, we had the Mud Girls come and teach a workshop in making cedar shake roofing. In this way, we have a group of people learning how it is done, getting the practical, hands-on experience and a work party of many individuals to get it done. Everyone benefits! Below is a shot of the cob kitchen with the walls completed up to the rafters and the cedar shake roof completed.
Plastering
This is a shot of the kitchen from the back view. This picture also shows the building when it is finished being plastered. The plastering happened at the end of the second building season. Typically, natural plaster is composed of fine clay, sifted straw and sifted, fresh horse manure. Yes, we all wore GLOVES for plastering!
This picture shows the inside of the kitchen with the sunlight coming through the coloured glass we embedded in the cob during the wall building phase. It also shows the layer of coloured plaster we did on the inside walls.
Below is another interior shot showing the variance of colour and texture that is possible with natural plastering. For the interior plastering of this kitchen, we were very lucky to have the expertise of a local business owner, Keetah Bryant of Canadian Coastal Clayworks (http://www.canadiancoastalclayworks.ca/ - there are more photos of the Art Farm kitchen in Keetah's photo gallery on her site).
This photo also shows one of the common natural building techniques of making dry stack foundations (at the bottom of the wall). "Dry stack" refers to building without the use of a mortar. One of the advantages of using dry stack foundations is that because the rocks are not fixed in one position, they can easily shift in the event of an earthquake and remain stable.
Cob Flooring
Here we see a freshly laid cob floor in the kitchen and more detail on the dry stack foundation and it's aesthetic value to a completed building. The shelf beside the window was embedded into the wall during the cob-building phase, as was the window. Also, the wooden studs were embedded into the cob wall during building. They will be used later to affix a wooden bench to the cob wall.
Versatile and Sculptable Cob
Below are some photos of completed cob homes showing the possibilities for living in a natural structure made of earth.
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| cabin by Meka Bunch of Wolf Creek, Oregon |
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| http://www.builditgreen.co.za/GoingGreen/EarthHouses.aspx |
A Few Reasons Why I Love Cob
I love how sculptable cob is and I love that we make these buildings with our hands and feet in the earth. I love how beautiful and dynamic the finished product is and that we can build furniture (such as the seating areas in the two photos above) coming right out of the wall, so that the wall becomes an extension of our lifestyle and home decor in an artistic and highly unique way. I love that cob buildings in the British Isles have been standing (and housing people) for over 500 years.
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