EARTHSHIP WORKSHOP IN SA!
27-31 August 2021
Earthship Inman Valley (this is what we are building!) View of Greenhouse Atrium looking east.
Inman Valley, South Australia
Come for one, two, three, four or five days.
Come for one, two, three, four or five days.
- Learn from experienced instructors
- See an Earthship/strawbale hybrid under construction
- Have a go at rendering strawbale walls, tyre walls and bottle walls!
- Build a light earth wall and cob wall
- Build bottle walls and make bottle bricks
- Tyre wall pack-out (mixing cob and applying it to the tyre wall)
- Cob stomping... mud glorious mud!
- Greywater planter overview (it's already made, but we will explain how it works)
- Learn about Earthships and have a go!
- Food, water and campsite provided
- Optional Earthship tour (at Earthship Ironbank)
EARTHSHIPS
Earthships are super energy and water efficient homes that are typically off-grid but can also be grid connected. This means little to no water and electricity bills plus the empowering feeling of self-sufficiency!
They are made with natural materials such as earth and straw and up-cycled materials such as tyres and bottles.
An array of amazing and beautiful design features integrate ingeniously to ensure that winter sun gets in and summer sun stays out, resulting in glorious indoor living conditions without the need for an air-conditioner.
A beautiful indoor food producing garden is also part of the typical (non-tropical) Earthship design.
Earthship construction methods are easy to do yourself so you can save money by putting in your own labour and only pay the builder to do the stuff you can't do. It is ideal for owner-builders.
Earthships are super energy and water efficient homes that are typically off-grid but can also be grid connected. This means little to no water and electricity bills plus the empowering feeling of self-sufficiency!
They are made with natural materials such as earth and straw and up-cycled materials such as tyres and bottles.
An array of amazing and beautiful design features integrate ingeniously to ensure that winter sun gets in and summer sun stays out, resulting in glorious indoor living conditions without the need for an air-conditioner.
A beautiful indoor food producing garden is also part of the typical (non-tropical) Earthship design.
Earthship construction methods are easy to do yourself so you can save money by putting in your own labour and only pay the builder to do the stuff you can't do. It is ideal for owner-builders.
workshop photos 2020 photo credits Martin Freney and Kim Kamo
THE WORKSHOP
This workshop is designed to introduce you to the Earthship concept and give you some hands-on experience so that you can evaluate how Earthship may be appropriate for you - if you are thinking of doing something similar one day, this workshop will be a great way to understand what is involved with being an owner builder.
The specific activities we aim to tackle are listed above. Please understand that weather and numbers of participants may dictate how many of these tasks we can engage with.
The workshop will also introduce you to like minded souls and enter the wonderful world of natural building!
It is intended for reasonably fit and healthy people capable of getting physical on a construction site.
If this is not your cup of tea then please consider booking in for a guided tour of Earthship Ironbank or a BnB stay.
Experience a guided tour at Earthship Ironbank (Australia’s first council approved Earthship). This will address all the key Earthship concepts:
Q&A Sessions
Opportunities to ask all your Earthship questions.
Free Camping
Free camping onsite is included to help participants who are not within easy driving distance (although you are very welcome to camp even if you are local).
Food
All food and water will be provided.
Drinking water will always be available.
Transport
You will need to provide your own transport although you may be able to share rides via some organising - a Facebook page will be setup to facilitate this. There will be limited space for vans, buses, caravans etc so please indicate this on your application form. We will fit in as many as possible!
THE VENUE(S)
The construction site is in Inman Valley, South Australia, a 1hr drive south of Adelaide on the beautiful Fleurieu peninsula. It is a mountainous bush block with remnant eucalypt forest, scrub, large cleared areas and a couple of dams. There are plenty of places to pitch a tent. It is about 20min drive to the beach at Normanville.
The Tour will be at Earthship Ironbank which is a bed and breakfast in Ironbank in the Adelaide Hills, 40min drive from the CBD and airport, co-located with Marty and Zoe Freney’s strawbale home on 4 acres where they have established a permaculture property. This pioneering project has broken new ground in Australia, inspiring many other similar projects. It demonstrates that you can get council approval for an “Earthship”, it shows how the Earthship can be adapted to suit local conditions (and regulations) and it enables people to experience off-grid Earthship living.
THE STUDENTS
We are looking for open-mined, fun-loving people with the desire (and the capability) for some hard physical labour. Earthships can be built with machines (see here) or with people power. There is no right or wrong way to do it, but one great advantage of people power is that they are powered by a renewable fuel (called food) rather thank stinky, dangerous, non-renewable fossil fuels.
THE TUTORS
Please note that the number of tutors is subject to the number of enrolments however these are the Earthshippers that are keen to teach you!
Martin Freney is one of world's most enthusiastic and prolific Earthship builders, designers and researchers. In fact Michael Reynolds, Earthship god-father, refers to him as "the data guy" because of Marty's research that involves monitoring the thermal performance (temperature, humidity) of Earthships. Marty is the designer and owner-builder of Earthship Ironbank, Australia’s first council approved Earthship which is a wildly popular BnB. When he is not teaching product design and sustainable design at the University of South Australia (part time) he is designing and researching Earthships. He has designed numerous Earthships throughout Australia via his sustainable design consultancy Earthship Eco Homes. He has visited Taos, New Mexico, USA - home of the Earthship - twice, once as an intern in 2008 and a second time in 2011 as part of his PhD which investigated the thermal performance of Earthships and their eco footprint compared to other types of housing. He has built Earthships with Earthship Biotecture in the USA, Indonesia and Australia.
Charles Swain has engaged in the University of life completing multiple phds with many high distinctions (self marked). He has spent the better part of the last five years travelling Australia in a troopy with a dingo, building Earthships, cooking on a fire and living under the stars. The five years before that were not much more stable either, travelling the world, living in strange places and shaping perspectives from even stranger strangers. The most important developmental time perhaps spent in the shadows of South Africa. In 2015 after flying into Vancouver, buying a van to live in and driving the 10,000kms to New Mexico. He attended the Earthship Academy in Taos, New Mexico and has worked on a variety of Australian Earthship projects throughout Australia (SA, NSW, TAS). To say he enjoys a challenge is simply a way to cover up the fact that he downright refuses to take the paths already well travelled. He and his partner are currently living near willunga, in a 40 foot school bus, with four dogs.
Bryan Carman is a designer and project facilitator with a focus on sustainability. He has led a number of creative builds/fit-outs around Adelaide including: Ancient World Bar, Tuxedo Cat, Degroot Coffee and Arthur Arthouse. Bryan started his Earthship journey in 2009 volunteering for month build in Texas. Since then he’s graduated from the Earthship Academy and worked on Earthships in Colorado, Adelaide and NSW. Other sustainable projects include: building water treatment for a home in Kadita Eco village Israel, running geodesic dome building workshops, working for EcoShelta Sydney, and assisting sustainable pioneer Art Ludwig prototype an earthquake-resistant mud home. Bryan recently completed a Permaculture Design Course with Jeff Lawton at his ‘Greening the Desert’ site in Jordan.
THE HOSTS
Evie and Tristan are the amazing couple at the heart of this project. With the help of their young daughter they will be working alongside you, plus managing the camp site, camp kitchen and a myriad of other things!
THE DESIGN
Earthship Inman Valley is essentially an "open-ended" Earthship floor plan with a strawbale open-plan living space at the west end of the home - this is to capture views to the south and west which is otherwise difficult to do with other Earthship designs such as the Encounter and the Global Model. It follows all the usual Earthship design principles. This is a fully off grid building. And approved by the local council. See the floor plan and images below.
This workshop is designed to introduce you to the Earthship concept and give you some hands-on experience so that you can evaluate how Earthship may be appropriate for you - if you are thinking of doing something similar one day, this workshop will be a great way to understand what is involved with being an owner builder.
The specific activities we aim to tackle are listed above. Please understand that weather and numbers of participants may dictate how many of these tasks we can engage with.
The workshop will also introduce you to like minded souls and enter the wonderful world of natural building!
It is intended for reasonably fit and healthy people capable of getting physical on a construction site.
If this is not your cup of tea then please consider booking in for a guided tour of Earthship Ironbank or a BnB stay.
Experience a guided tour at Earthship Ironbank (Australia’s first council approved Earthship). This will address all the key Earthship concepts:
- Natural & up-cycled construction materials
- Passive/natural heating and cooling
- Off-grid power, water and sewage treatment
- Food production
- Council approval
- Design
- Structural engineering
- Energy assessment
- Construction timeline
- Costs
Q&A Sessions
Opportunities to ask all your Earthship questions.
Free Camping
Free camping onsite is included to help participants who are not within easy driving distance (although you are very welcome to camp even if you are local).
Food
All food and water will be provided.
Drinking water will always be available.
Transport
You will need to provide your own transport although you may be able to share rides via some organising - a Facebook page will be setup to facilitate this. There will be limited space for vans, buses, caravans etc so please indicate this on your application form. We will fit in as many as possible!
THE VENUE(S)
The construction site is in Inman Valley, South Australia, a 1hr drive south of Adelaide on the beautiful Fleurieu peninsula. It is a mountainous bush block with remnant eucalypt forest, scrub, large cleared areas and a couple of dams. There are plenty of places to pitch a tent. It is about 20min drive to the beach at Normanville.
The Tour will be at Earthship Ironbank which is a bed and breakfast in Ironbank in the Adelaide Hills, 40min drive from the CBD and airport, co-located with Marty and Zoe Freney’s strawbale home on 4 acres where they have established a permaculture property. This pioneering project has broken new ground in Australia, inspiring many other similar projects. It demonstrates that you can get council approval for an “Earthship”, it shows how the Earthship can be adapted to suit local conditions (and regulations) and it enables people to experience off-grid Earthship living.
THE STUDENTS
We are looking for open-mined, fun-loving people with the desire (and the capability) for some hard physical labour. Earthships can be built with machines (see here) or with people power. There is no right or wrong way to do it, but one great advantage of people power is that they are powered by a renewable fuel (called food) rather thank stinky, dangerous, non-renewable fossil fuels.
THE TUTORS
Please note that the number of tutors is subject to the number of enrolments however these are the Earthshippers that are keen to teach you!
Martin Freney is one of world's most enthusiastic and prolific Earthship builders, designers and researchers. In fact Michael Reynolds, Earthship god-father, refers to him as "the data guy" because of Marty's research that involves monitoring the thermal performance (temperature, humidity) of Earthships. Marty is the designer and owner-builder of Earthship Ironbank, Australia’s first council approved Earthship which is a wildly popular BnB. When he is not teaching product design and sustainable design at the University of South Australia (part time) he is designing and researching Earthships. He has designed numerous Earthships throughout Australia via his sustainable design consultancy Earthship Eco Homes. He has visited Taos, New Mexico, USA - home of the Earthship - twice, once as an intern in 2008 and a second time in 2011 as part of his PhD which investigated the thermal performance of Earthships and their eco footprint compared to other types of housing. He has built Earthships with Earthship Biotecture in the USA, Indonesia and Australia.
Charles Swain has engaged in the University of life completing multiple phds with many high distinctions (self marked). He has spent the better part of the last five years travelling Australia in a troopy with a dingo, building Earthships, cooking on a fire and living under the stars. The five years before that were not much more stable either, travelling the world, living in strange places and shaping perspectives from even stranger strangers. The most important developmental time perhaps spent in the shadows of South Africa. In 2015 after flying into Vancouver, buying a van to live in and driving the 10,000kms to New Mexico. He attended the Earthship Academy in Taos, New Mexico and has worked on a variety of Australian Earthship projects throughout Australia (SA, NSW, TAS). To say he enjoys a challenge is simply a way to cover up the fact that he downright refuses to take the paths already well travelled. He and his partner are currently living near willunga, in a 40 foot school bus, with four dogs.
Bryan Carman is a designer and project facilitator with a focus on sustainability. He has led a number of creative builds/fit-outs around Adelaide including: Ancient World Bar, Tuxedo Cat, Degroot Coffee and Arthur Arthouse. Bryan started his Earthship journey in 2009 volunteering for month build in Texas. Since then he’s graduated from the Earthship Academy and worked on Earthships in Colorado, Adelaide and NSW. Other sustainable projects include: building water treatment for a home in Kadita Eco village Israel, running geodesic dome building workshops, working for EcoShelta Sydney, and assisting sustainable pioneer Art Ludwig prototype an earthquake-resistant mud home. Bryan recently completed a Permaculture Design Course with Jeff Lawton at his ‘Greening the Desert’ site in Jordan.
THE HOSTS
Evie and Tristan are the amazing couple at the heart of this project. With the help of their young daughter they will be working alongside you, plus managing the camp site, camp kitchen and a myriad of other things!
THE DESIGN
Earthship Inman Valley is essentially an "open-ended" Earthship floor plan with a strawbale open-plan living space at the west end of the home - this is to capture views to the south and west which is otherwise difficult to do with other Earthship designs such as the Encounter and the Global Model. It follows all the usual Earthship design principles. This is a fully off grid building. And approved by the local council. See the floor plan and images below.
WHAT TO BRING
SAFETY GEAR AND WORK CLOTHES
CAMPING
Camping facilities include:
OTHER THINGS TO BRING
*optional
THE SCHEDULE
Thursday 26 August 2021 (optional tour @ Earthship Ironbank)
3:00pm - arrive at Earthship Ironbank for tour
3:15pm - tour starts
4:30pm - end of tour
5:40pm - arrive at Inman Valley and setup camp (optional)
6:30pm - BYO dinner (bring your own food and cook on the BBQ)
Friday 27 August - Monday 30 August 2021
7:00 am - BREAKFAST
8:30am - Morning Meeting, Safety Talk, and Stretches
9:00am - Construction session
12:30pm - LUNCH at the worksite
1:00pm - Construction session
4:00pm - Worksite clean up
4:30pm - Free time for beach swims, exploration, rest, bathing, etc
6:00pm – Opportunity Space for offering personal Workshop sessions (Dance/art/music/yoga etc)
7:00pm – DINNER at the campsite
8:30pm – Varied and optional evening activities including Q&A sessions, quiz nights, party nights, movie nights etc
Tuesday 31 August 2021 (last day)
As above with end of workshop at 4:30pm
SAFETY GEAR AND WORK CLOTHES
- Work boots
- Gloves (leather riggers gloves or ninja gloves are ideal)
- Work clothes
- Sun screen
- Sun glasses (and/or safety glasses)
- Hat
- Water bottle
- Change of clothes/shoes
- Camping gear (see below)
- NOTE: Any other PPE that you need will be supplied
CAMPING
Camping facilities include:
- toilets
- outdoor, covered, kitchen with water and electricity for phone charging
- 4G phone services (Telstra and Vodafone)
- dam for a dunk or a wash
- trees - for hanging solar shower bags from (BYO)
- beach is 20min drive for a cleansing ocean plunge
OTHER THINGS TO BRING
- tent or swag
- ground sheet (tarp to go under swag or tent)***
- tent pegs and hammer
- warm sleeping bag
- warm clothes
- beach stuff (bathers, beach towel, Frisbee)
- air mattress***
- pillow
- towel
- toiletries
- torch and/or head torch
- solar phone charger***
- mosquito repellent***
- solar shower bag***
- teddy bear*
- midnight snacks*
- drum, guitar, didgeridoo, flute...*
- camping chair*
- any other glamping essentials such as coffee tables and LED lights*
*optional
THE SCHEDULE
Thursday 26 August 2021 (optional tour @ Earthship Ironbank)
3:00pm - arrive at Earthship Ironbank for tour
3:15pm - tour starts
4:30pm - end of tour
5:40pm - arrive at Inman Valley and setup camp (optional)
6:30pm - BYO dinner (bring your own food and cook on the BBQ)
Friday 27 August - Monday 30 August 2021
7:00 am - BREAKFAST
8:30am - Morning Meeting, Safety Talk, and Stretches
9:00am - Construction session
12:30pm - LUNCH at the worksite
1:00pm - Construction session
4:00pm - Worksite clean up
4:30pm - Free time for beach swims, exploration, rest, bathing, etc
6:00pm – Opportunity Space for offering personal Workshop sessions (Dance/art/music/yoga etc)
7:00pm – DINNER at the campsite
8:30pm – Varied and optional evening activities including Q&A sessions, quiz nights, party nights, movie nights etc
Tuesday 31 August 2021 (last day)
As above with end of workshop at 4:30pm
THE PRICES
New Earthshipper Full Workshop (5 days) $400 (Concession* price $320)
New Earthshipper 4 days $350 (Concession* price $280)
New Earthshipper 3 days $300 (Concession* price $240)
New Earthshipper 2 days $200 (Concession* price $160)
New Earthshipper 1 day $100 (Concession* price $80)
50% discount for returning Earthshippers from Earthship Inman Valley or Earthship Goolwa
Returning Earthshipper Full Workshop (5 days) $200
Returning Earthshipper 4 days $175
Returning Earthshipper 3 days $150
Returning Earthshipper 2 days $100
Returning Earthshipper 1 day $50
* Concession price is for tertiary/secondary students and unemployed people
Please note, there will be a small booking fee charged by the online booking system.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
1. No refunds (with the exception of the organisers postponing the workshop - see point 2 below). Please be sure you have made all the necessary arrangements before you apply and make payment. If necessary, you may transfer your place in the workshop to another suitable person (who has been accepted via the online application system) but your payment is non-refundable.
2. In the event of lack of interest, mishap with council approval, bushfire, extended heat-wave, pandemic shut-down/border closures/quarantine, or other calamitous event, the workshop will be postponed in which case you can decide to receive a 95% refund (5% is retained to cover administration expenses), or you can hold onto your ticket and attend the workshop on the new (postponed) dates.
3. In no circumstances will your travel expenses be refunded.
4. You have 48hr to make payment after you receive the email confirming that your application was successful. After that, your place in the workshop may be offered to someone else. Please pay promptly.
5. Participants who are unable to comply with instructions regarding the safe and the orderly running of the workshop will NOT be allowed to participate any further in the workshop activities (including camping) and will forfeit their payment for the workshop.
6. Sexual, racial, or any form of harassment will not be tolerated.
7. If you are under 18 years of age you must be accompanied by a parent or guardian who has also purchased a ticket to the workshop.
8. Participants must complete the online application form and agree to these terms and conditions. These terms and conditions are duplicated on the workshop website.
If you have any questions please email Martin Freney via the web form here: https://www.earthshipecohomes.com.au/contact.html
REGISTRATION AND TICKETS
Step 1 Fill Out Online Registration Form - you will receive an email within 3 working days to advise you further.
Step 2 Purchase Ticket Online
STEP 1 - ONLINE APPLICATION FORM
Please fill out the online registration form by clicking on the REGO FORM button below. We need your contact details and would like to understand a little bit about who are, what you like to eat, why you want to attend the workshop etc. You also need to accept the terms and conditions.
New Earthshipper Full Workshop (5 days) $400 (Concession* price $320)
New Earthshipper 4 days $350 (Concession* price $280)
New Earthshipper 3 days $300 (Concession* price $240)
New Earthshipper 2 days $200 (Concession* price $160)
New Earthshipper 1 day $100 (Concession* price $80)
50% discount for returning Earthshippers from Earthship Inman Valley or Earthship Goolwa
Returning Earthshipper Full Workshop (5 days) $200
Returning Earthshipper 4 days $175
Returning Earthshipper 3 days $150
Returning Earthshipper 2 days $100
Returning Earthshipper 1 day $50
* Concession price is for tertiary/secondary students and unemployed people
Please note, there will be a small booking fee charged by the online booking system.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
1. No refunds (with the exception of the organisers postponing the workshop - see point 2 below). Please be sure you have made all the necessary arrangements before you apply and make payment. If necessary, you may transfer your place in the workshop to another suitable person (who has been accepted via the online application system) but your payment is non-refundable.
2. In the event of lack of interest, mishap with council approval, bushfire, extended heat-wave, pandemic shut-down/border closures/quarantine, or other calamitous event, the workshop will be postponed in which case you can decide to receive a 95% refund (5% is retained to cover administration expenses), or you can hold onto your ticket and attend the workshop on the new (postponed) dates.
3. In no circumstances will your travel expenses be refunded.
4. You have 48hr to make payment after you receive the email confirming that your application was successful. After that, your place in the workshop may be offered to someone else. Please pay promptly.
5. Participants who are unable to comply with instructions regarding the safe and the orderly running of the workshop will NOT be allowed to participate any further in the workshop activities (including camping) and will forfeit their payment for the workshop.
6. Sexual, racial, or any form of harassment will not be tolerated.
7. If you are under 18 years of age you must be accompanied by a parent or guardian who has also purchased a ticket to the workshop.
8. Participants must complete the online application form and agree to these terms and conditions. These terms and conditions are duplicated on the workshop website.
If you have any questions please email Martin Freney via the web form here: https://www.earthshipecohomes.com.au/contact.html
REGISTRATION AND TICKETS
Step 1 Fill Out Online Registration Form - you will receive an email within 3 working days to advise you further.
Step 2 Purchase Ticket Online
STEP 1 - ONLINE APPLICATION FORM
Please fill out the online registration form by clicking on the REGO FORM button below. We need your contact details and would like to understand a little bit about who are, what you like to eat, why you want to attend the workshop etc. You also need to accept the terms and conditions.
STEP 2 - PURCHASE TICKET
If your application is successful, you will receive payment instructions via email. You will know if your application is accepted within 3 working days.
If your application is successful, you will receive payment instructions via email. You will know if your application is accepted within 3 working days.