Natural Building Workshop: 17 Apr – 22 May 2022

In this permaskills Natural Building Workshop we are restoring a Shale-Stone-Ruin for Ronja and Alessandro in Central-Portugal. There are no skill requirements. You will learn everything you need to build a PermaHome from foundation to roof.

From April 17th to May 15th 2022 we will start another permaskills Natural Building Workshop near Benfeita in Coimbra district, central Portugal. This workshop will provide you plenty of opportunity to get hands-on experience in Natural Building, all the skills and especially the confidence you need to build a PermaHome for yourself. The highlights of this workshop is building on a slope, recycling and restoration of an existing ruin, a Shale (xisto) stemwall and foundation, cob walls, earthen floors, earthen plasters and even cob sculpting, as well as passive heat management.

Certification	permaskills Natural Building Certificate
Instruction language	English / English & German
Certification Levels	5 weeks: Master (incl. Batch-Rocket) 4 weeks: Advanced 2 weeks: Beginner 1 week: Batch-Rocket Heater (only)
Date	Apr 17 – May 22, 2022
Location	Benfeita, Arganil, central Portugal
Building Style	Ruin Restoration / Off – Grid / PermaHome + Batch-Rocket Mass Heater
Instructor	Robert Brendler & Floris Winkelmeijer
Hosts	Ronja and Alessandro

Project: Ruin – Recycling / Restoration / PermaHome

In this year’s permaskills Natural Building Workshop we will restore a Shale (Xisto) Stone Ruin into a PermaHome for Ronja and Alessandro . They would love to have a comfortable, passively heated guest room.

Workshop: Natural Building – Ruin Recycling / Restoration – PermaHome

This permaskills Natural Building Workshop consists of theoretical instruction (in English or English & German) with lectures & graphics as well as hands-on construction for 7 – 8 hours a day. The successful completion of these Workshops gives you a Natural Building Certificate.

In this permaskills Natural Building Workshop you can build a complete building from foundation through floors and walls to the roof with your own hands. We are trying to use only natural materials, so you know exactly what you are working and surround yourself with.

Extras

Restoration – For this workshop Ruin – Restoration will include assessment of the existing foundation the walls and the roof. In case of insufficient structure we might demolish and renew part of the ruin before building on top of it. We will use materials that match the historically used techniques to restore the ruin as it was and then add to it.

Slope – The ruin we will be working on was built on a slope, so we will take care of sufficient moisture management and drainage from the slope faced wall. There won’t be extra measures against landslides, because it is supported by another attached ruin downhill.

Passive heat management – In central Portugal the days are hot and the nights cold, an ideal climate to regulate the room climate with passive heat management.

Batch-Rocket Mass Heater – In collaboration with our friends at Batch-Rocket, we are offering a separate mass heater in week 5 to round off the Natural Building concept. With a Batch-Rocket mass heater, even the coldest days can be comfortable with minimal resources and modern, efficient heating technology. Fire it up once, put in a stack of wood, sit back and doze off the heated bench without having to worry about topping it up. The mass battery keeps you warm for the rest of the day.

Natural Builder Certification

You will receive a permaskills Natural Builder Certificate, all the teaching materials by email and the permaskills – Natural Builder’s Handbook, which is a summary of the workshop building steps, upon graduation.

Workshop Requirements

There are no skill requirements for these permaskills Natural Building Workshops! That said, it certainly won’t hurt if you know some things and put it to good use or share it with others. Nobody is perfect and we are always curious to learn other ways of doing things.