Co-Designing CobBauge Futures

AHRC Design Exchange Partnerships project
Close up of cobbauge - The cob mix focusing on the soil
Title: Co-Designing CobBauge Futures
Funding amount: £65,000
Location: Plymouth
Dates: January 2024 – August 2024
University of Plymouth PI: Dr Matthew Fox
University of Plymouth staff: Karen Hood-Cree, Design Accelerator Coordinator , Mr Kevin Owen, Design Accelerator Researcher , Professor Steve Goodhew , Dr Jim Carfrae
Following the completion of the CobBauge research project, the IAA AHRC Future Observatory funded the Co-designing CobBauge Futures project, which has worked towards investigating novel methods for enhancing the commercial viability of this new earthen construction material. Throughout this project, we have investigated how CobBauge could move from the monolithic in-situ wet-formed walling methodology to a more modular/block form.
 

Project objectives

1. Exploring novel methods for improving the commercialisation of the CobBauge walling material.
2. Collaboration with designers, builders, and academics to build upon expertise gained through the Interreg-funded CobBauge Project .
3. Investigating a range of design options for pre-fabricating CobBauge components.
4. Dissemination of design and methodology proposals through conferences and design guidance documentation.
Cobbauge - creating the two components of the cob building material - Invenite issue 6
CobBauge is a new earthen wall construction material that builds upon the traditional vernacular material known as cob.
Until recently, cob was a typical material used to form dwellings in South West England. While it is still used as a construction technique around the world, building regulations in the UK mean that cob cannot comply with thermal standards without the addition of insulating layers and materials.
This limit to an inherently low carbon footprint material is a barrier to application.
The Interreg-funded CobBauge Project set out to optimise the materials in traditional cob to see whether a new material could be formed that would comply with the thermal regulations.
This project proved successful and established a dual layer composite material called CobBauge. This comprised an outer layer of light earth/insulating cob and an inner denser layer of traditional/structural cob. Together, this composite earthen material complied with the thermal standards.
Through laboratory experimentation, industry collaboration and design development, the Co-Designing CobBauge Futures project has explored alternative methods of fabrication for the CobBauge material. This has primarily focused on prefabricated CobBauge blocks, which mitigate for all the limitations encountered through in-situ CobBauge, while also elevating the commercialisation of this material to a wider market.
Different CobBauge block design options were presented and tested. In addition, methods of interlocking CobBauge blocks were explored to ensure the structural rigidity of a monolithic wall construction.
CobBauge
CobBauge blocks
Initial work using this material focused on in-situ construction methods, using formwork and wet earth material to form traditional lifts.
This construction technique was demonstrated to great effect on the University of Plymouth CobBauge building (Fox Eco Architects), Normandy CobBauge building, London Hadley Road Community Allotment building (Studio Dera) and Norfolk CobBauge house (Hudson Architects).
However, a limit to mass uptake in this material was the drying times, clay shrinkage and requirement for formwork. Therefore, a new method of using this material was needed.
CobBauge

AHRC – Design Exchange Partnerships

The Design Exchange Partnerships (DEP) initiative, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), aims to foster collaborative projects that leverage design-led approaches to address the unique challenges faced by UK coastal and island communities in transitioning towards greener, more sustainable futures. This initiative emphasises the application of arts and humanities-led design research to create tangible impacts within these communities, focusing on practical solutions for achieving green transition goals.
Two males and one female working with paper and paint materials around a table for the Bridport project