Cob (earth) building
Cob, also known as clom is the result of mixing clay soil, straw, and sand with water and has been used for building in Wales for centuries. This mixture can be used to create flowing, organic structures that are unobtainable using modern building materials. Because it’s entirely non-toxic, cob is ideal for exploring construction with a wide variety of groups so you’ll find a number of cob structures on our site.
Lower Cob Building
The Lower Cob building was one of the first structures on the Murton site and is often referred to by people who see it for the first time as a ‘Hobbit’ house. Despite it’s other-wordly feel the building is based firmly in reality. The cob front of the building has a Southerly aspect and large windows to make the most of passive solar heating. Conversely the rear wall is constructed from strawbale to provide insulation on the cooler North side. The cob walls continue inside providing additional thermal mass.
Upper Cob Building
The Upper Cob Building is an example of just how versatile cob is – the geometric lines of the building sitting on exposed gabion basket foundation provide a modern industrial feel. This is echoed internally by the single larch tree trunk which forms the spine of the green roof system above.