Learn to build a small building using a combination of traditional and sustainable building techniques as well as more contemporary methods. The instructor, Rena Upitis, trained with master cordwood builder, Rob Roy and is a Founding Director of Wintergreen Studios. Rena’s first cordwood building at Wintergreen was the Hobbit House, followed soon thereafter by the Meadow Hut, the Root Cellar, and the Sauna, among others.
Beginning with a concrete slab-on-grade foundation, we will construct a small shed for equipment for our apiary. Without much adjustment, a similar design could be used for a “she-shed” (or a “he-shed”, for that matter!). Once the foundation is poured, we will build one or two sides with cordwood, using re-purposed cedar fence rails, combined with sawdust and mortar. The other walls will be constructed with conventional framing. You’ll learn to hang a door and how to instal a window. We’ll top the whole structure off with a steel roof.
Absolutely NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED! Just come willing to learn and with a sense of humour and ample doses of imagination as we create a unique cordwood wall, using bits of glass and other objects to create visual interest.
Participants will have opportunities to examine many of the buildings at Wintergreen, both cordwood and strawbale and to learn about various planet-friendly approaches to building.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Rena Upitis is a self-taught carpenter and timber frame builder. Her first major renovation project of an old stone school house was in 1983… and she has been learning ever since! She designed the lodge at Wintergreen and played a major role in its construction, including stuffing hundreds of straw bales into the walls. She studied with Rob Roy in 2006, where she first learned about cordwood construction and living roofs, techniques she has incorporated in many Wintergreen buildings. She is a graduate of the Architectural Technology program at Loyalist College (after deciding she should learn some theory after decades of hands-on learning!). Her buildings are whimsical and rooted to the earth. She loves teaching and treats the building process as a creative interaction of materials and function.
REGISTRATION
This workshop is limited to eight participants.
$475 + HST includes tuition, tools and personal protective equipment (aka gloves!), handouts, private accommodation, and meals, beginning with lunch on Friday and ending with lunch on Sunday.
If purchasing a ticket for more than 1 person, please enter the number of tickets required as the “Quantity” and you will be charged accordingly.
3 SPACES REMAINING.