Teaching and Advocating for Natural Building through workshops, testing and practice

We believe that housing is a human right and that it can be climate-resilient and dignified for all.

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We teach, construct, and advocate for Natural Building practices, encouraging people to engage with our built environment. Natural Building is the art and practice of building structures with local natural materials. Natural building is not new, but it is revolutionary. We blend the practices gathered from traditions around the world, remembering that every one of us come from ancestors who built their own shelter with local materials, with modern day building practices. The common techniques we employ are cob, light straw clay, adobe, earthbag, and strawbale, using them to build houses, garden walls, wood fired earthen ovens, earthen plasters, and earthen floors.

WORKSHOPS

  • Build Outside the Box

    This online course is taught by 16 Masterminds, builders, designers, scientists and teachers each who cover one type of building system.

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  • Natural Building Camp on the Mendocino Coast

    This is a hybrid model of a cross between a workshop and a work party, with the focus on learning through doing.

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  • Earthen Walls

    In this class we will use the same basic materials; clay, sand and fiber, to create a variety of different earthen building systems, including cob, adobe, Light straw clay, redwood bark clay, wattle and daub and earthen plasters.

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  • Natural Plaster

    Join myself and Yoshi Makino for a 4 day deep dive into learning about natural plasters and finishes. From earthen base coats to polished finishes, we will cover a wide range of techniques.

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LEARN MORE ABOUT ALL OF OUR WORKSHOPS

JOIN US FOR A WORKSHOP

We offer both in person and online workshops. When we started teaching online we thought it was going to be temporary, but we have come to love the accessibility it offers. What a privilege to offer support to people all over the world who can’t travel to join us in person, as well as parents that cant travel easily.

Earthen Shelter

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@earthenshelter

⚒️ Build Outside the Box Mastermind launch 3 is here! 🌏 This online course is comprised of 11 classes on individual wall systems from #cob to #rammedearth to #strawbale and #hempcrete. 🌟 USE code COB100 for a $100 discount! Link in bio for lots mor
My favorite assistant. It’s super convenient that we have buckets of mud around for our work, he doesn’t even notice the power tools. #babyonthejob #earthenbuilding #earthenplaster
More workshops are up on our calendar! Link in bio for all the details. 🌊Natural Building Camp in Caspar, CA: May 24th - May 28th This is a hybrid model of a cross between a workshop and a work party, with the focus on learning through doing. In t
This Spring we are offering a hybrid between a workshop and work party, with the focus on learning through doing. In the May 24-28 Natural Building Camp we will be focusing on wall insulation, primarily in the form of redwood bark clay infill, but wi
Interested in learning more about Natural Building? This class is a great place to start! Registration is open for 1 more day! Build Outside the Box Mastermind has many solutions in one place. This class takes a look at several options so you can
BUILD OUTSIDE THE BOX - Registration is now open for 10 days! Discount code COB100 FOR A $100 discount. Link in bio. This course takes a look at several different natural building methods, each module taught by different experts in their field. In
➡️Build Outside the Box- Another round of registration is opening this Friday! This course is a collaboration with 12 instructors, all experts in their fields, offering a bigger picture overview of natural building methods, and looking at pros and co
Location is a critical part of any cob oven design. We want space for friends to gather nearby, but I also want to be able to see inside the oven from the kitchen. This way I can keep an eye on the fire while prepping food inside the kitchen. A sligh
The massive carbon footprint of heating buildings is shameful when so many new construction projects ignore passive solar even as a secondary heat source. This cob and earthbag building has big windows on the south facing wall, and glass double doors
What will you learn in our Cob Oven Workshop? We’ll build a cob oven from start to finish, using clay soil, sand and straw. Through the process of building a cob oven, we also cover a wide variety of earthen building techniques that can emplo