Straw Bale Building Course - Lanseria - Apr 2013

Again, we had a very nice straw bale course, had lots learned and lots of fun...
We started building a new straw bale bedroom which will be completed over the next few natural building course, also to be held at River Bend Farm in Lanseria at the 'InSynch Training Centre'.

For more details on InSynch's courses contact Sonia Armstrong
sonia@insynch.co.za
0766688877
www.insynch.co.za

Rammed Earth Course + Workshop. Robertson, March 2013

InSynch ran a Rammed earth course and a Workshop over a 2-day period in March 2013 just outside the town of Robertson in the Western Cape on the Long Valley Farm.
Eva and Terrence Winberg are building their home, the 'Bumbelbee Cottage' on the farm using a combination of conventional brick n' mortar and the ancient construction form known as Rammed Earth.
InSynch were the Rammed Earth consultants on the project and they took this opportunity to run the workshop and course.

Some of the course attendees on Day 1.

A welcome break and a lovely lunch prepared by Eva for all.

Abri checking the formwork is ready to start filling and ramming.

Breakfast at the camp site on Long Valley Farm... morning of Day 2.  With Helen, Abri, Ian and Jan.

Train-the-Trainer... Geduld the construction team leader
is showing how you manage the depth of the layers
inside the formwork.

Geduld finishing off the ramming on one of the layers.

Straw Bale Building Course - Nov 2012

First straw bale building course of 2012.
Not a lot of people, but we had a lot of fun and achieved a lot.

Straw Bale Building Course - 17 Sept 2011

After the mandatory theory hour or three, the course attendees (roots) headed out to the Pony Cottage on the Riverbend farm in Lanseria (close to the InSynch Training Centre) to build the straw bale walls for a new addition to the cottage a new Bedroom.

Pre-Dipping the bales... before stacking them, making the plastering process quicker and easier.

The bedroom was constructed using a non-load bearing straw bale walling system. The bales were hand-picked as best as possible, the Vapourt barrier was put in, the bales pre-dippedf and stacked and pinned as required. Next weekend we will apply the Base and Final Plaster layers, and thus continue with the construction of the bedroom.

Group Photo of all who did the course...

Sustainable Building & Design Courses - Observatory Cape Town

Hi All

More Pictures and comments to be posted soon.

In the mean time here is 1 or 3.

PS: In case you did not know. At the last minute we had to change venue. We changed from Houtbaai to Observatory.

AA

Upcoming Events: Sustainable Building & Design Courses - Houtbaai Cape Town

(CPD Accredited)

InSynch will be running a number of courses in Cape Town during the Easter break 2011, by popular demand.

The Course Line-up:

1. Green Home Design Course (Saturday, April 23rd)
2. Straw Bale Building (Sunday, April 24th),

3. Cob Building (Monday, April 25th),

4. Natural Paint & Plaster (Tuesday, April 26th) and

5. Rammed Earth (Wednesday, April 27th).

If you are interested in attending any of these courses, please book ASAP. Limited space available.

If you would like to get CPD points for the courses attended, please contact CIFA for bookings and more info.

See you all there... by the 'Mooontin'!!

Bookings: info@insynch.co.za or call Sonia Armstrong on 076 6688877

Date: April 23rd - April 27th, 2011.

Location: Houtbaai, Cape Town

Rammed Earth Course - 5 March 2011

Bulking Factor, Continious System, Formwork, Californian Method, Pipe Clamps, Release Agents, Soil Science, Cement Content, Lime Content, Stabilisation Factor, Crush Tests, Test Blocks, Soil Selection, Council Approval, Mix Ratio's, Moisture Content, Mix Procedures, Ram Vibration, Ram Technique, Production Volumes, Cost per M2, Finishing & Touch Ups....

are just some of the issues discussed during the Theoretical part of this Course.

The day is broken into two parts:

Part One: Theory & Best Practice (Based on InSynch's Experience & Theory)

Lunch

Part Two: Practical - the students select Soil, Prepare and Mix it, Build Formwork and Ram a small test block.

Finally: before we go home, we have a quick sneak peak of the test wall by removing the formwork and revealing the wall.....

"Aaawwh... it looks beautiful", says Sancha, an Architect all the way from Bloemfontein.

Most of the other students flew all the way from Cape Town to do the course.

Lets hope they enjoyed the course and are going to start producing some Rammed Earth buildings in the Mother City.

Alastair