The dream of a natural home can come closer to reality by building skills towards taking it on as owner builder. Elke has been teaching cob and other skills for more than ten years and many of her students are now teachers themselves. As an instructor Elke believes in the power of hands-on learning, working on real projects and building relationships.
Below you will also find workshops facilitated by others who work with similar intention.
Join us to build your toolkit for a more sustainable life!
Workshop overview 2008
| Date | Workshop title | Location | Facilitator | | April 18 evening - 20 | Design your own Natural House- Ecological Design for homeowners | O.U.R.Ecovillage | Elke Cole | | May 3/4 | Project Management for homeowners | O.U.R.Ecovillage | Randy Churchill | | May 10/11 | Introduction to Timber Framing | O.U.R.Ecovillage | Higgs Murphy | | May 21-25 | Curvelinear foundations | O.U.R. Ecovillage | TBA | | May 28- June 1 | Frame and infill wall systems | O.U.R. Ecovillage | Elke Cole | | June 2-6 | Basic Timber Framing | O.U.R. Ecovillage | Higgs Murphy | | June 13-22 | Let's build Cob in Texas | South Texas | Elke Cole | | June 14/15 | Intro to natural plasters | O.U.R. Ecovillage | Cindy Walker | | June 18-22 | Beautiful natural finishes | O.U.R.Ecovillage | Cindy Walker | | June 27-29 | Building as if people mattered | O.U.R. Ecovillage | Elke Cole | | July 2-6 | Building Cob and Community | O.U.R. Ecovillage | Elke Cole |
Let's build cob in Texas
Cob building workshop
June 13- 22 with “weekend only” options for June 13-15 and June 20-22
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.
Register now
Accomodation options: Camp on site at no extra cost (make your own breakfast and dinner)
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
Workshops at O.U.R.Ecovillage, Shawnigan Lake
Design your own Natural House-
Ecological Design for homeowners
with Elke Cole
April 18-20 , 2008, at O.U.R.Ecovillage, Shawnigan Lake
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
$200 includes 2 lunches
Facilitator: Elke Cole, natural house designer/ builder
Register now
Project Management for Homeowners May 3-4
Interested in building your own home, or understanding the process of building better? This program will introduce the concepts of Project Management as applied by professional builders, and those that can be used by Owners to make their projects come in closer to schedule and budget. Inter-personal skills such as crew leadership and delegation are reinforced with proper record keeping and briefing materials. Numerous examples of various projects are used to illustrate successful projects and discuss the ways things can go wrong. Follow up short mentoring sessions at OUR EcoVillage through the summer will reinforce lessons and answer the questions that will come up. House building is a win-win-win proposition if approached with the right attitude and tools.
Lead by Randy Churchill who has built a couple houses for himself and many for others.
Cost: $175 per person (includes lunches ) Register now
Building as if people mattered :
a look at Natural Building as it meets Conventional Construction Date: June 27-29, 2008
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 weekend 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
Cost: $ 250 incl. 3 lunches
Register now
Frame and Infill Wallsystems
May 28 – June 1
So you have a nice timberframe structure: 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.
5 days ,
Instructors: Elke Cole and others
Cost: $ 400 incl. lunches
Register now
Building Cob and Community July 2-6
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 mechanization along the way.
Age 14 and up
6 days
Instructors: Elke Cole and others
Cost: $500 incl. lunch
Register now Natural Plasters for healthy and beautiful homes Weekend Intro to Natural Plasters June 13-15
Beautiful natural finishes June 18- 22
Improve the indoor airquality of your home with natural plasters. Clay, our basic material, has inherent
qualities to help us create a healthier environment. Its capacity to handle varying humidity levels,
absorb odours and toxins, while being easy to use with simple techniques and recipes, makes it
desirable for both interior and exterior finishing. These plasters are usable for conventional homes as
well as cob, straw or light-clay walls. Participants will learn hands-on mixing and application, materials evaluation and recipes
Suggested reading: “The Natural Plaster Book” Guelberth & Chiras, New Society Publishers
Required tools: please inquire
Instructors: Cindy Walker www.naturalplasters.ca
Weekend Intro to Natural Plasters June 13-15
Cost: $ 300 incl. 3 lunches
5 days : Beautiful natural finishes June 18- 22
Cost: $ 500 incl. lunches
Cost for both: $ $700 Register at www.ourecovillage.org
Inquiries for workshops welcome! If you are interested in hosting a workshop talk to me. Your project will have to suit the needs of facilitating a group. Natural House Design: 2 day and one evening format that fits for a weekend This workshop can be held in a livingroom or a hall. A good offer for an organisation interested in promoting natural building awareness. Cob building: from 4 days to weeks Natural Building: Make the connection between the materials. Suitable for a hybrid project Natural finishes: Cob or Strawbale houses as well as natural renovation can be explored
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