WHAT CAN WE DO FOR YOU:
- Build cob ovens that can be used to engage your local community and/or fundraise
- Create sculpted benches for storytelling and/or to create a micro climate for growing
- Offer courses, demos and talks
- Run workshops exploring clay as both a building and a creative material (seed bombs, sculptures, and many more.)
- Work with special needs groups using clay and sculpting as a way to feed the mind and soul –
working with those with Alzheimer’s, dementia, visually impaired - Put on special building events such as ‘Music and Mud’ and ‘Mud and Mindfulness’ days
- Use clay systems for heating and condensation management
WHY WORK WITH US:
- Working with cob is a wonderfully unique experience and deeply rewarding. It brings people together to create something amazing and inspires a sense of joy, connection and community.
- The process is easy, fun and sometimes goes deep, helping to rekindle memories – perhaps of the last time your hands were in mud as a child.
- We work flexibly and can offer a range of options to suit your budget.
- For example, if you wanted to build your own community oven, we can supply all materials or you can source some or all of these yourself to keep costs down.
- We offer a range of teaching styles to suit your group’s needs, abilities and interests. We can also supply trainers who have Permaculture Design certificates.
- Our expertise ensures projects are completed on time and to budget and are compliant with UK legislation and building regulations.
We care about the health and safety of everyone involved on our builds and our key staff working on site are cleared to work with children and vulnerable adults (DBS checked).
OUR PRODUCTS:
COB OVENS – By far our most popular cob structure is the cob oven. Cob ovens are wonderful and straightforward to build. Your finished oven is a great way to bring folks together to share food, to share cooking traditions, to thank your volunteers and/or to raise much needed funds through the sale of hot, homemade oven cooking such as pizzas, breads and stews. Download our fact sheet and inquiry form.
COB BENCHES – Whether you want to provide colourful outdoor seating or want an inspiring place to read stories to children, we work with you to design and build a cob bench that is full of character and contains the creative ideas and inspirations of your community members. We use clay in the design process to create a small 3D model of what’s wanted, and to ensure that our journey together is as inclusive as possible right from the start. We can tailor the whole process and build to your needs. For example, if you are a school, ask us about our ‘Waste Bench’, which we can integrate as part of the curriculum. If you are a growing group, we can use the process of building a bench as part of a Permaculture Design Course.
COB STRUCTURES – Cob is amazingly versatile. With sufficient time, funds and volunteers, it can be used to build structures as substantial as a community centre (see Meadow Orchard Project), houses, shelters, or out buildings. This type of work is very much involved, though possible when all the right people and processes are in place.