Earth Building Workshop for architecture students undertaken in NSW supported by University of Newcastle and the EBAA.

In September, an Earth Building Elective for undergraduate architecture students was held over 5 days at Earth Building Solutions in Shoalhaven.

The Earth Building Elective was instigated by Dr Sarah Breen Lovett, Senior Lecturer at the  University of Newcastle and ran with Earth Building Solutions Builder and Earth Building Association of Australia President Peter Hickson.

12 Masters and undergraduate Architecture students took part in an intensive hand on building workshop and collectively built a small shed using a timber lathe infill system with a variety of earth based infill such as cob, light earth, straw slip and hemp clay, as well as finished with an earth render and earth floor.

Throughout the course, students attended morning lectures where they built on the practical learnings with broader knowledge shared by Peter on: Earth building history and traditions from Australia and around the world; how different approaches to using earth, mudbrick, cobbing, rammed earth, earth render, lower density earth, and light earth method LEM construction techniques; the benefits and qualities of earth as a green building material;  how to use earth in appropriate climate responsive design, sustainability – passive low energy earth architecture, NATHERS, NCC performance. Where Sarah delivered lectures on  current prefabricated techniques for earth building including: mudbricks, compressed earth bricks, rammed earth, etc; as well as the Eco social and Eco-therapeutic implications of earth building.

The learning was embedded in a communal experience, where collectively students camped during the course, swimming each afternoon returning to fully catered fantastic world cuisine each night.  In addition, the students got to see a tour of 5 local earth buildings, made from a mixture of cob, rammed earth, mud brick, and meet various earth building home owners.

The student’s effort, interest and enthusiasm was a credit to the University of Newcastle and the quality of the course. The reflective journals from the students reveal that it was a very valuable experience, teaching alternative ways of construction, and being in the world through the accessibility and sustainability of earth building construction.

To get in touch with Sarah for more information on this awesome project or to discuss future opportunities to teach earth building to students you can email her here.

Natural Building Australia member Sam Vivers from Viva Living Homes has also been teaching recently, and has uploaded videos on his social media here and here of a recent strawbale course.