The best way of building a roundhouse is in a group, and the best way to learn how to do it is in a group. I like to take on occasional projects to build roundhouses or round low impact buildings for many uses. This involves recruiting a group of volunteers who pay a fairly low amount, on a sliding scale, to learn how to do it. The client gets planning permission, if necessary, and pays a small fee plus supplying the building materials, which we gather in the main from local natural sources. I need about six months' notice, if you are interested in hosting a course on your land.
Here's a course going on right now at Denmark Farm Shared Earth Trust, near Lampeter. This is erecting the posts at the end of the first week, in Feb 2008.
And here is the henge at the end of the second week:
Here we are at the end of week three, April 4th 2008:
And at the end of week four:
On a special roofin day on April 23rd we start turfin:
Cobwood course coming up May 2008
We are planning to rebuild our guest hut as a rural bedsit made of cobwood, to be built as a course from May 12th -30th 2008. Camping in the nearby field. Food cooked over an open fire. Come when you can during that three weeks, not weekends, and the fee will be the same however long you come for - 40% of one week's income. Concessions available for the seriously impoverished. It will be a great opportunity to learn how to build a cobwood turf covered den in a traffic free organic space near woods and sea with great company. Max. hands on. We are nearly booked up, so let me know ASAP if you want to come :
(email).
The focus in 2007 was a three part course in Portugal, starting in Feb 2007. We built a multi-purpose roundhouse in this olive grove, using these big eucalypts for the main wood structure.
Here is work in progress in the first week. The roundhouse is in fact oval; about 8m x 9.5m. Quite big.
Here is how it looked at the end of the first week:
And here it is on March 1st with the radials on the roof.
The working environment was fabulous, the company great, the cooking superb and generous. Here is the ecocasa after stage three. It is a good space for workshops, drumming, dancing and music. We will put a membrane and earth on the roof in the autumn, when the grapes are in and hopefully before the rain comes, in mid Oct.
The fourth part of the course was from October 20th - 27th 2007. Here is a link to the people and place.
And here is what it looked like after the fourth part, in early November 2007:
For more info and details on Cabeca do Mato:
quintacabecadomato@gmail.com
http://quintacabecadomato.blogspot.com
Here are some pics of previous cordwood courses :
The May 2005 course:
Here are some pictures of the course in 2003:
This course involved a group building a cobwood wildlife shelter at Gelli Deg, off Cwm Cych, for the Clynfyw Countryside Centre.
Here is a cordwood den still in progress at Ixuxu, (www.tallergaia.org) Asturias, Northern Spain.
