Our Courses

We offer training and education on natural building through both theoretical and practical courses. These cover a range of topics looking at sustainability in the built environment, from design and planning to project management, through to learning the practical skills to build with natural materials.

COURSE LOCATION DATES COST BOOKING
Practical – Straw Bale Building Tarskavaig, Isle of Skye 3 – 7 June £200 Full info here
Theoretical – Preparing to Build with Bales  TBC Dates TBC £75 Expression of interest
Theoretical – Designing your Straw Bale Building TBC Dates TBC: £75 Expression of interest
Theoretical – Technical Details TBC Dates TBC £75 Expression of interest
Theoretical – Natural Plasters TBC Dates TBC £75 Expression of interest
Practical – Clay Plastering TBC Dates TBC £200 Expression of interest
Practical – Lime Plastering TBC Dates TBC £200 Expression of interest

Some courses may be advertised at short notice because we work with self-builders who may not be able to give a long lead-in time. We will advise all trainees of course dates by email as they are confirmed.

For even more inspiration and information, check out Barbara’s book. Our self builders, and the architects we advise, all say this book is invaluable as a resource to understand how to build with straw. It covers the whole building process from foundations to internal plastering. Barbara has been designing and building with straw for 25 years – this book is a distillation of all her knowledge and experience. Originally published in 2002 it has never been out of print – revised in 2009 and 2015, the last revision taking in details of how to compress straw walls and how to build the roof first when doing load-bearing buildings.