Former Xavier College student and Kangaroo flat resident Jeremy Krieg used his Year 12 research project to explore the sustainability benefits derived from building a home based on the ‘cob’ concept.

‘Cob’ is a natural building material that is comprised of clay, sand and straw. It is very durable, artistic and most importantly, dirt cheap! Mr Krieg became interested in natural building and cob after discovering several videos on YouTube, including a tour of the mnemonically named ‘Cobville’ in Oregon, USA, which featured quirky homes that captured the creative nature of their owner-builders working on a shoe-string budget.

“I decided to base my year 12 research project on building my own structure on our small farm just out of Gawler, “said Mr Krieg. “I lodged an application for building approval in 2013 with the Light Regional Council, however without an engineer I only received an expensive piece of paper with planning approval for a small brown house in one of our paddocks.”

After much research and discussion with engineers it seemed that getting building approval was much more of an obstacle course than he had imagined so he put the project on hold until his gap year in 2014.

Mr Krieg said in a direct answer to much prayer, I received a letter from local Member of Parliament, Mr Tony Piccolo welcoming him to the electorate and prominently stating that he is available to help with any queries or concerns.

“ I promptly wrote a large essay of an email voicing my predicament and was very surprised to receive a reply within 54 minutes,” said Mr Krieg.

“ Mr Piccolo assisted me over several months in gaining access to documents and contacts with various engineers.

“Through his support I decided to build under the ‘Sundry minor operations’ of Schedule 3 of the South Australian Development Regulations, which would give me building liberty as the structure would not be considered ‘development’.

“I have worked on the house priMarily on my own, I have been very blessed to have the help of a few close friends occasionally, but for the vast majority of the time it’s just me, the mud and the birds,” mused Mr Krieg.

The dimensions of the house are 3m by 5m footprint and 2.5m high above natural ground level.

He excavated the site so it is sunken below natural ground level to fit with the requirements of schedule 3 of the South Australian Development Regulations. The house has a large loft, many in-built shelves, a small desk, and will soon have a rocket mass heater.

“The blue silo tarp is only temporary and will be replaced by an expensive pond liner that will be used to form the green roof,” added Mr Krieg.