A FUN, INTERACTIVE AND IN-DEPTH 10 DAY NATURAL BUILDING WORKSHOP

7 – 18 NOVEMBER 2024

BY CARRIE CAT PRETORIUS | TERRA-KHAYA | HOGSBACK

Carrie has been building with earth since 2011 when she decided to take a step out of the mainstream and volunteer at off the grid communities and establishments in and around the Western Cape. By reconnecting with the simpler way of life and natural rhythms and working with the earth through learning and practising permaculture and earth building projects, her inner child was indulged as well as a newfound appreciation of the abundance and generosity of nature. So began her journey and until the present day she has been striving to share what she has learnt and to empower and assist others to reconnect with themselves and our precious earth home. 

After completing a cob building course she began to hone the newfound skills by ‘building small’ in the form of cob ovens which embody all 4 of the earth’s elements of water and earth to build and fire and air once in use. From foundations, structure and roofing,  through to sculptural and plastering finishes, the cob oven is the perfect place to start with family or friends and provides endless hours of enjoyment spent together as well as tasty wood-fired wares. Aside from the cob ovens, Carrie has also learnt to make other heat and earthen building units such as rockets stoves, rocket mass heaters and Rumford fireplaces. She has collaborated with many other experienced and knowledgeable earth builders on groundbreaking projects in the Cape and assisted private home builders in achieving their dream homes. She has worked with multiple techniques such as mud bricks, compressed tyres, compressed earth bricks, cordwood construction, wattle and daub, light straw clay and she thrives on creating beautiful sculptural elements with cob, and the use of recycled materials such as eco-bricks and glass bottle bricks.

If you attend a Building with Nature course at Terra-Khaya you will be immersed in what many describe as life-changing. Aside from the theory and hands-on building skills that you will take away with you, we also create a space of non-judgement, love, equanimity for all who share the space. There are ongoing building projects happening all the time at Terra-Khaya as the space grows and develops, during the hands-on sessions, we encorporate small elements of as many techniques as we can within the main structures, whether it be timber frame (mainly wattle and daub technique) and/or monolithic (in the case of mud brick or cob) so that a broader understanding and approach to choosing the right technique for you is achieved.

Topics covered during the theory classes include the following:

Green building philosophy

Soil identification workshop

Design and site analysis

Understanding loads, compressive and tensile strength

Passive Solar Design principles

Insulation and thermal mass properties 

Rubble trench foundations

Earthen floors

Earthen and lime plasters (including Tadelakt)

Roofs