January to June 2012
This course is open for bookings.
7 modules from January to June 2012 – (taken as one week courses or a series of seven for the Schumacher Certificate)
PLEASE NOTE THE CORRECTED DATES BELOW
Teachers: Robert Somerville, Jim Carfrae, Zav Bowden, Christina Hopfe, John Fiske, Mike Gardner, Linda Lemieux, Lou Rainbow, Adam Wiesmann and Katy Bryce.
For individuals, families and modern society at large, there is a growing movement to “find our place on the Earth” which is part of the inspiration for this extraordinary introduction to Natural Building.
A unique programme
What distinguishes our course is the hands-on learning on real building projects. We will explore a wide range of artistic expression and craft skills; celebrating the latent creativity in your fingertips. We will investigate the contexts for any particular building project, including the extraction and harvesting of natural materials form the immediate environment. The preservation of biodiversity on the Dartington Estate is a vital part of the course as well as rediscovering the staggering wealth of useful materials around us.
The planet is the ultimate source of sustainable materials. Discovering potential local sources and learning the hands-on skills to use them are the two objectives of this Certificate. The third is to explore these from the context of Deep Ecology and the transformational journey of learning by doing that Schumacher College provides.
The Certificate in Natural Building consists of seven week-long modules spread over six months from January to June 2012. Each one tackles a different subject area and can be taken either individually or as a series which will provide a comprehensive appreciation of the key components of Natural Building. The Schumacher Natural Building Certificate is for beginners and established building professionals alike.
The Certificate breaks down into the following modules over six months:
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DATES FOR THE FIRST AND LAST MODULES ARE DIFFERENT FROM PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED. PLEASE ACCEPT OUR SINCERE APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE THIS MAY HAVE CAUSED.
1) Introduction to Natural building – 23 – 27 January, 2012
2) Timber in Natural Building – 20 – 24 February, 2012
3) Mass in Natural Building – 19 – 23 March, 2012
4) Insulation in Natural Building – 16 – 20 April, 2012
5) Natural plasters and finishes – 14 – 18 May, 2012
6) Ecological Design – 28 May – 1st June, 2012
7) Planning and regulations for self-build – 25 – 29 June, 2012
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Click here to download the full course programme
This Certificate provides an opportunity to:
Materials
The materials to be experienced are across the range of stone, earth, lime, green-wood and natural fibres.
The types of techniques include:
Cob work, clay plastering, dry stone walling, lime plastering, straw bale walling, hempcrete insulation, round-wood framing, hewing and cleaving, post and beam carpentry, shingle roofing and the making of turf roofs. This list is not exhaustive, and varies according to the seasons.
Robert Somerville
Robert has a degree in Architecture from Cambridge University and a distinction in Building Technology with the Chartered Institute of Building. Robert worked for two London Boroughs in the1980’s as a Building Surveyor, employing conventional building systems. His love of the English countryside led him to volunteer at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, and it was there that he experienced the sights, smells, sounds and joys of pre-industrial construction using local natural materials. For the last 20 years he has lived in South Devon, working alongside skilled craftspeople as a designer and builder…and part of the renaissance of traditional materials and crafts in the U.K.
Jim Carfrae
Jim has recently completed his PhD researching the viability of straw bale construction in a temperate maritime climate (like Devon). He designed and built the straw bale house that he lives in, and is currently designing two more for local clients. Jim’s particular expertise is in the moisture physics of natural buildings, but he is also researching the relationship between the embodied energy of the materials used in a building, compared to the energy used during its lifespan.
Zav Bowden
Zav has been working with wood for over 20 years, involving furniture, through joinery, to timber structures. He uses his“joiners’ eye” to optimise the performance of insulation in new build and renovation by careful detailing. He’s currently involved in pushing natural building towards the mainstream through community led and self build housing projects.
Christina Hopfe
Christina has a degree in civil engineering from the Technical University in Darmstadt, Germany and a PhD from the Building Physics and Systems group, Eindhoven University of Technology, Holland and the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, US. For the last two years, Christina has been working as a Lecturer at the BRE Institute of Sustainable Engineering at Cardiff University. Her research interests cover multiple areas, including: Passivhaus and zero carbon buildings, future adaptability of buildings and cost-effective, large-scale, adaptable and deployable innovative domestic renewable energy product and process solutions.
Christina says “Many natural materials have extraordinary physical properties. Coupled with a sound knowledge of building physics, this course brings timeless natural material into a modern perspective.”
John Fiske – Chartered Energy Manager MEI MMES ACIBSE
John is Dartington Hall Trust’s energy and sustainability coordinator. His early background was in the minerals industry and has significant experience in the use of recycled construction materials and waste materials particularly from Devon’s ball and china clay industries. For the past decade his career has been in energy and environmental consultancy. Although predominantly locally focussed, his work has covered a diverse range of activities, industries and organisational size.
Mike Gardner
Since graduating with a degree in Ecological Sciences and Forestry in 1990 Mike Gardner has been working through out the British Isles making a wide range of products from sustainably managed local woodlands.
He has been based in Devon since 1998 managing various woodlands, selling sawn timber and specialising in timber buildings and other carpentry projects. He has a good team of foresters and carpenters producing quality added value products and some of this work can be viewed at Woodmanship.co.uk
Linda Lemieux
Linda is a basket-maker from Chagford in Devon. She is very keen on self-sufficiency and sustainability, growing all her own raw materials,and making all manner of things from willow and rush. She has taught widely, running her own courses for over 20 years and sharing her skills with MA students at Exeter University Archeology Dept, Ray Mears, Sharpham, Farms For City Children etc. She has a degree in Anthropology from Edinburgh and is City and Guilds qualified as well as being a founded partner in Wild Woods ‘n Willow connecting young people with nature.
Linda says – “I am really excited about sharing my passion for natural local materials and their varied applications in shelters and structures with like minded folk. I feel nourished by the deep connection to the land and our ancestors that seems to arise in me through weaving and constructing in such an age old manner.”
Adam Wiesmann and Katy Bryce
Adam and Katy are natural builders who live in Cornwall. They restore ancient buildings and build new structures working with clay, stone, straw, wood and lime. They are the authors of Building with Cob: A step by Step Guide and Using natural finishes: Lime and clay based plasters, renders and paints. They are the founders of Clayworks (formerly Cob in Cornwall), as well as the Clay Plaster Network (CPN) (www.clay-works.com). Clayworks is a natural building company as well as the manufacturer of pigmented and non pigmented internal clay plasters.
Standard fee: £425.00 per module.
Book all seven modules and get one module free. Full course cost: £2550
PLEASE NOTE: Non-residential (4 nights, lunches included) – Course costs do not include accommodation and evening meals.
For more information contact: lou.rainbow@schumachercollege.org.uk
Click here to access our on-line booking system
Or email: lou.rainbow@schumachercollege.org.uk
To provisionally reserve a place for 5 days, email us your contact details and the name of the course admin@schumachercollege.org.uk
We will hold the place for five working days for reservations – three weeks before a course or earlier. After five days we will automatically offer your place to someone else if we have not received your application.
For further information about Schumacher College please see About the College
