General Information
Hosting a workshop is a great way to learn cob building while creating a wonderful learning community on your property that will help you build part or all of your dream cob house, studio, room, office, etc, in a fun, supportive and unforgettable co-creative environment. By hosting a workshop you will also contribute to the expansion of beautiful and peaceful cob landscapes and a greater awareness of earthen building.
To host a workshop you need to have a plan/design for a building structure, provide all of the materials and tools (students are asked to bring trowels, saws, tape measures, levels to help with this), provide camping (free) and/or other indoor onsite accommodations (free or paying a reasonable fee) and/or other sleeping accommodations elsewhere (paid by student), and prepare quality meals for the students (meals paid by students). You need to have good organization skills and plan for healthy wholesome and abundant meals and snacks for hungry builders. This is one of the key ingredients to a successful workshop, especially after full days of construction! It is also a plus to have ideas for after the work/learning day activities like sitting around a fire, playing music, games, yummy treats, etc.
The students get to learn on a real building site, you get to participate sporadically throughout the workshop when time permits and with Instructor approval to experience the different elements of the building project, attend lectures, have your structures built in 1/4 of the time, with professional supervision and more economically (about 25% of labor cost in US and Europe) in a wonderful environment. Plus, if needed, students are often willing to stay on to complete the finishing touches in exchange for meals!
Workshop Options
(see Students menu for more details on Workshop Options)
Currently there are 3 workshop formats we offer: 21 days, 28 days and 35 days, however our most popular one is the 5-week (35 days) Advanced Full Cob Build.
The 21-day workshop provides students with a Basic Cobber Certificate. Students build the cob walls, floor and roof connection, including windows, door(s), shelves, sculpting and plaster. The host is responsible for building the foundation and roof. We support you every step of the way in preparing for the workshop and foundation with documents and phone/email time. The Workshop Prep & Management Fee is $600/600€. Hosts are responsible for purchasing and delivering materials and tools to their site by one week before start of workshop at the latest, as well as having all the facilities ready for receiving the students (campsites, showers, sinks, toilets, lecture space, slideshow space for evenings, kitchen, dining area) before the Instructor arrives. CCG charges $1000 refundable deposit to cover any labor and materials costs required to prepare things Host has not prepared prior to arrival of Instructor, a week before workshop begins. Host is also asked to have information and possibly organize non-camping accommodations for students as well as any cooks, if needed, to prepare three meals/day from Monday through Friday. Students are responsible for their weekend meals. Hosts cover cost of Teacher and Assistant’s transportation to the site up to $1000, as well as room and board from the moment of arrival to time of departure. This includes weekend meals for Instructor & Assistant. Teacher & Assistant arrives 5-7 days before the Course begins to assist in finalizing the gathering of materials after performing soil and brick tests to decide on final cob mix proportions to be used, and assists with final preparation of workshop site. The teacher is not responsible for the preparations that Host is required to complete before Instructor arrives. Deposit will be used to hire people to complete uncompleted tasks, if needed. All Materials & Tools (except Instructor’s responsibility) should be prepared and on the site no later than 7 days before Course begins. Host is provided with a checklist with due dates by which to complete tasks that need to be shown to Instructor or CCG with photos. Host is very well-supported and coached for ideally 6 months porior to arrival of Staff.
The 28-day workshop provides students with the Intermediate Cobber Certificate. This workshop includes the Foundation in the first week. Everything else is the same. The Workshop Prep & Management Fee is $800/800€.
The 35-day workshop provides students with the Advanced Cobber Certificate. The Workshop includes all of the above plus the Roof. The Workshop Prep & Management fee is $1000/1000€.
Once a Contract is agreed upon and signed between CCG and the Host, and the Workshop Fee is paid, CCG will provide the Host with all of the preparatory information, including directions on building the foundation if applicable, and communicate as needed by email, text and phone to support the Host in preparing for the Workshop. In addition the Instructor & Assistant will arrive 5-7 days before the first Workshop day in order to finalize preparations for the building materials with the exact cob mix so that the correct quantities of building materials (soil, sand and straw) can be purchased or gathered and delivered to the site. Staff works up to 5 hours a day in the week prior to the workshop in exchange for room and board. Any hours beyond are paid by Host.
For more in-depth details, please inquire at claudine@cruzincobglobal.org and we can send you the relevant documents and have a short initial call to see if we are a match.
Please contact us if you are interested. We would love to talk with you. We are currently interviewing potential hosts for 2024 Summer and Fall workshops as well as 2025 slots! Nowhere is too far and CruzinCobGlobal loves to travel! It’s in our name!
