Any Golf Course buildings/clubhouse constructed from Cob?

[Jeff Schley]

I have a hobby of building and renovations.  I was speaking to a friend of mine in the SF area and they are considering building their house entirely out of "cob", which I had heard of, but honestly never knew exactly the components of (clay, straw, water). It is fireproof and very resistant to earthquakes, both of which unfortunately are part of California's reality. His issue is the building codes aren't really defined in California for cob construction.


I was intrigued as I had seen adobe houses before, but didn't realize this material can and is used in modern building construction. It appears a wonderful use of natural materials and is fireproof. I looked up cob and it is an English term, thus I was curious if anyone knows of any golf courses that have any of their buildings/clubhouse etc. constructed out of cob? In today's age of sustainability and environmentally conscious public, it could be a nice way to help market a course in such a way. The finished product can be very rustic, to very modern so I am impressed with it's versatility.  Perhaps there are buildings with a earth finish, but is the building walls itself made of cob? Perhaps in the UK there are such?

[James Boon]

Jeff,


None that I know of but then cob (according to my copy of Brunskill's Vernacular Architecture) is predominately used around Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and southern Somerset which isnt exactly my neighbourhood. Having said that, cobb is often rendered so its difficult to know if a building is cob at a quick glance.


One modern building I know of that uses cob is the visitors centre / entrance building at The Eden Project where because they have a large overhang to the roof they dont need to render or protect it and can expose the layers of packed earth. Which you could say looks a bit like revetting in a bunker 


Cheers,


James