“Create Sacred Space” 15 day Cob Workshop

In this comprehensive 15 day workshop,  you will learn all the basics of building a small cob cottage, by creating a 15′ diameter round Cob sauna temple space , with a timber framed earthen roof.

Cob saunas are a fantastic teaching project, as they are big enough to learn and practice your cob building skills, but small enough that we’ll have plenty of time to explore the other crucial aspects of the cob building process,  which often get overlooked in workshops with larger cob projects.

We will take you on a journey through the most important aspects of cob construction so that you’ll feel confident in building your own cob cottage. You’ll get to experience firsthand the joys and challenges of building a cob house, and in the process, learn how to install doors, windows,  a cedar floor and stone hearth, a wood-stove and chimney, carve niches, altars and practice bas-relief sculpture, make and apply earthen plaster from scratch and top it off with installing the beams and rafters for the timber framed earthen roof. You’ll specifically be creating a cob sauna, which is a great starter project for when you return home.

We’ll also go into detail about various ways to mix cob, including with a tractor and a cement or mortar mixer, and will  have at least one full demo of tractor cob, as that has been one of my specialties for over 20 years. We’ll also teach a moveable cob form system, which greatly speeds up the wall building process, and talk in detail about the latest in the cob permitting process, and how to prepare building plans to get a permit.

In addition to all this great cob fun, we’ll also be incorporating a morning yoga/movement/ meditation practice together, as we co-create this temple space together. We’ll also have a local natural building tour, visiting some local cob homes, saunas, temples and garden walls. And well have time to take a special river trip to our local South Yuba River for some excellent swimming and play.

Three gourmet meals a day, camping in an oak grove overlooking the South Yuba River canyon,  and hot showers included.

Rob Pollacek is a master cob builder, having been a professional cob and natural builder since 1999. He trained and apprenticed with the Cob Cottage CO. in 2000 and 2001, and specializes in tractor cob, moveable form systems, temples, sauna spaces, cob cabins, earth roofs, poured adobe floors, earth plasters,  garden walls and teaching his “Create Sacred Space” cob workshops. He built a 3000 square foot permitted cob house from  2004-2007, and recently built a  permitted cob building at Big Bend Hotsprings, and is currently building a permitted cob building near his home in Nevada City, CA, of which he did the architectural drawings for and organized the permitting process through his local building department.

He still loves his cob sauna projects and hopes to share his love of these wonderful spaces with you at this workshop.

Please check out his website, Californiacob.com for more information about this workshop and to see photos of many of his past projects.