What’s made of mud bricks, straw and recycled materials, is decorated by sculptures on the walls, features a moat that crosses a tiny stream and has a roof shaped into a playful spiral shape to inspire children’s imaginations?

It’s the completed kindergarten wing of Kindlehill School’s Building the Education Revolution Program upgrade, welcomed last Wednesday by students, teachers and parents.

In about six months, local builder Jason Dash and his team at Mud and Straw Concepts will complete the rest of the upgrade by putting the finishing touches on a state-of-the-art performance and drama centre, art and sculpture room and playgroup classroom.

“When you build something like this you can’t explain it to people over the phone,” Mr Dash said.

“I often find myself telling people they have to come and see it for themselves.

“Suppliers have taken a look and were so impressed they donated materials to the project — we’ve had surplus concrete and steel given to us, excess soil from other school construction sites and even trees removed for the Mid-Mountains highway widening project delivered to us. It’s been amazing.”

The design and construction is a showcase for earth buildings and has already become a regular destination for eco-building tours.

The straw provides excellent insulation and the mud bricks can last decades longer than concrete if maintained properly.

The school’s management said what made the project even more unique was the talent of people including architects and craftsmen, volunteers from the community, teachers and parents and even backpackers participating in a ‘help exchange’ program that made such a large and ambitious project possible and within budget.

“The kids were really keen to get involved and even made some mud bricks in class,” Mr Dash said.

“They were a bit upset at first about some trees being cut down to make room for the buildings, but were pleased when we used the timber from them in the support beams inside the new classrooms.”

Kindergarten teacher Lynn Daniel said the design and sculptural qualities of the mud bricks and timber framing provided the perfect classroom environment for a school like Kindlehill where the curriculum embraced the arts, the natural environment and creativity as pillars of learning.

“It is so functional and yet it really supports the children’s imaginations,” she said.

This article first appeared in the Blue Mountains Gazette of Feb 23rd 2011, page 10.