What is a COB?
Cob is a structural composite of earth, clay, straw, sand and water that is hand-sculpted into wall decorations, shelters and houses. With cob you can create beautiful wall-sculptures, achieve various interior design effects; you can build ovens, animal shelters, saunas, garden walls…. The possibilities are endless!
Cob as a building material is non-toxic, non-polluting, fire and insect resistant, earthquake resistant and 100 percent recyclable and biodegradable.
Cob is one of the oldest, safest and most eco-friendly materials for building on the planet. If mixed carefully, well-maintained and adequately protected from moisture – it can last for many centuries.
Cob (while not so common in our region) is a common building material in the whole of Europe (majority of traditional houses are built with cob), especially in Great Britain – There are over 100,000 cob homes in Southern England that are all over 500 years old and are still being lived in.
Earthen materials (cob, adobe) are also very popular in the Africa, Asia, The Middle East, Mexico etc… One one third of the population on the planet presently lives in earth homes.