Since his student days, Jamie, one of Kindlehill’s two architects, has been interested in sustainability in all it’s aspects. Design is fundamental, but there are considerations beyond the drawing board. A state-of-the-art solar passive house may be energy efficient though not be constructed from sustainable building materials.

In his search for solutions, Jamie discovered the limits of high technology and is now moving towards low tech materials that are locally sourced, produced from minimal processing and carry a low embodied energy.

When Jamie started working with builder Jason Dash on Kindlehill’s design, he felt as if he closed a loop: Jason’s hands-on knowledge of mud and straw complemented his design and analytical skills. In embracing the labour intensive, low embodied energy of cob, he also discovered a new way of working: slow.

While building a cob wall on another project, Jamie noticed how the ethos at the construction site shifted away from the production process and back onto people. “After an initial resistance, builders started asking questions, relaxing and offering to mix the cob. The owners have started to help and have invited friends down to help. What more can you ask for in creating a home? The conversations are also philosophical and I am convinced it is because we have our hands in mud. This would not happen with conventional building methods and you can feel it in the buildings.”

Advocates of the Slow Movement contend that the splintered, disorientating effects of maximum efficiencies erodes social capital and alienates people from their community. Jamie feels that the slow, steady pace of the school’s construction is spacious enough to allow the community to get involved and create works of art like Pam’s chicken house tree sculpture and Pippita’s vine stairwell. “In that sense” says Jamie, “the building becomes a canvas for people to draw on”.

For low embodied energy, sustainability, local availability, community participation and all-round good vibes, the answer for Jamie is as clear as mud.

Kindlehill School

Kindlehill School is a K-10 Steiner School that sits on a hill above the Wentworth Falls Lake, in the Blue Mountains, NSW. We are an independant school working creatively and in a contemporary way, out of the foundation of Rudolf Steiner’s philosophy for education.