The Natural Building Collective Blog
Guest post: Hybrid alternative and natural building blocks at the Delft ECD (Early Childhood Development Centre)
In Delft, an impoverished township on the outskirts of the Cape Flats, local government is changing its approach to building early childhood development centres (ECDs) with a pioneering project showcasing a hybrid of natural building methods and up-cycled waste...
Q&A with Paul Marais, award-winning architect specializing in rammed earth
Otto cottage treads very lightly on a pristine site and it restores our ancient connection to nature in its reconciliation with the site, from which the house is made. It recycles its energy and water and waste, creating a space for regenerative conscious living.
Q&A with Jill Hogan, a pioneer of natural building in South Africa
In the first of our series of Q&As with pioneers of natural and sustainable building in South Africa and beyond, we caught up with Jill Hogan in honour of Women's day in South Africa. How did you first get involved in natural building? In the early 90's my life...
Guest post: Rammed earth on the rise
Rammed earth construction in South Africa has generally been stigmatised as a substandard and primitive building construction method reserved ‘for the poor’. Yet it is now gaining popularity for community social projects, as well as among wealthier clients. By Mary...
Transition Ethics: The Art of Compromise
Do we as ethical natural builders have a right to deny someone a home simply based on the argument of its purity? Surely it's about having the humility to acknowledge that sustainability is about economy and social justice as much as it is about ecology. Scott Gallant...
From the ground up ~ approaches to building a foundation for your natural building
The foundation of your natural building needs to be well-considered as the integrity of your building rests here. Decisions you make about your foundation depend on the materials you have available, the type of ground you have to build on and what carbon footprint you...
TERRA Award ~ first international prize for contemporary earthen architecture
The TERRA award is a collaborative effort on an international scale to enable both professionals and the general public to fully appreciate earth's increasing popularity as a building material of high aesthetic and technical quality. Earth is becoming increasingly...
How to incorporate passive solar design in your building, using thermal mass and insulation.
Passive solar design can dramatically reduce our demands on fossil fuels and other forms of energy input, allowing our buildings to become producers and not consumers of energy and resources, supporting us in a healthier more comfortable abundant way. Passive solar...
The dynamic qualities of African Vernacular Architecture
In this guest post by Jon Sojkowski, he chronicles common misperceptions of African vernacular architecture and how it is being abandoned for the status that comes with living in conventional Western style buildings. He asks whether these modern materials are truly...
Take charge of your power needs, Part 2: How to design your own off-grid solar energy system
As the cost of power continues to rise and the cost of solar energy continues to drop, going off grid has never been easier. Learn how to calculate your energy requirements, as well as choose an inverter, batteries and solar panels to suit your needs. Please note in...