Presentation by: Bob Cameron

www.rockcote.com.au

INTERNATIONAL STRAW BUILDING CONFERENCE 2016

The ROCKCOTE Philosophy

We believe that people thrive when living close to nature

We believe buildings should celebrate life over sterility, restraint over extravagance, beauty over

tawdriness

Natural Materials sales are doubling annually

Aesthetics initially – now more people want a healthier home

The ROCKCOTE story

• Founded in 1987 when I gave up solid my plastering business to focus on ROCKCOTE

• Started in New Zealand the same year

• Developed pre-mixed render and machine application

The ROCKCOTE story

• 2008: state of the art dry mix render plant opened at Yandina, Queensland Head Office

• Now produces 2 million bags per year

Treading lightly on the earth

Embrace the Steve Jobs challenge to

“Put yourself out of business”

• Turn of the century: new business model; bring people back to nature; biomimicry

• More solid plasterers talking about traditional lime plasters

• Architects wanted to emulate beautiful European walls

• Researched old plasters right back to Vetruvius; learnt from artisans around the world

• Blend of ancient and modern

ROCKCOTE aims to be a fully sustainable company taking nothing from the biosphere and putting nothing in

Source: EPEA, “Nutrient Cycles,” http://epea-hamburg.org/index.php?id=199&L=0

Products cycle through the biosphere & technosphere

The benefits of clay

• Brings the outside in

• Cleans the air

• Manages humidity

• A living material

• Microbes are beneficial to human health

• Calmer

• Naturally beautiful

• Can be returned to the earth after use

“…a real difference in our health…”

Rainforest cottage, Gold Coast Hinterland

"I like to walk down the hallway and touch the clay walls, feeling the texture and temperature... they have an effect on people because they have so much more character than paint.The home now smells clean and fresh. Mum and I are asthmatic and have noticed a real difference in our health. Mum would always have sneezing attacks and take antihistamines which she rarely needs now.” - Suzy Worrall

“Buildings that look beautiful, save money, use less energy and keep their inhabitants

healthier and happier, naturally.”

Earthen cottageSunshine Coast, QLD

Life-changing new opportunities

Education

Availability

Affordability

Alternative business models

COMMUNITY

Training

The challenges• Make natural building more affordable

• Challenge the notions of earth building being for mud huts

• Teaching the different methods of working with natural materials … “it’s a dance”

• Demonstrate suitability for commercial projects; durability

• Communicating the versatility

• Relevance to modern living

• Making clay something requested by builders and home owners

Award-winning Hotel Hotel, Canberra

Our mission: to create naturally beautiful buildings that…

“…celebrate life over sterility, restraint over extravagance, beauty over tawdriness. Green buildings do not poison the air with fumes nor the soul with artificiality. Instead, they create delight when entered, serenity and health when occupied, and regret when departed. They grow organically in and from their place, integrating people within the rest of the natural world; do no harm to their occupants or the earth; foster more diverse and abundant life than they borrow; take less than they give back. Achieving all this in hand with functionality and profitability requires a level of design integration that is not merely a technical task but an aesthetic and spiritual challenge.” – Lovins, Lovins & Hawken: Natural Capitalism

www.rockcote.com.au

THANK YOU