Cob Printed Entrance to the Caerau Hillfort

The project was designed in collaboration with the charity ACE (Action in Caerau and Ely) in Cardiff, that is conducting a regeneration project of a residential park in the Ely area, with the aim of providing a community space for both visitors and residents of the area that would also act as a representation of ecologically developed design.

The goal of the project was to create a gate leading into the Caerau Hillfort, integrating the traditional symbolism of the hillfort into the design, and using sustainable materials.

We investigated several digital fabrication methods, including recycled plastic and timber, but ultimately, we decided to use Cob due to numerous fabrication advantages compared with the other solutions.

Following on from this, we went on to develop a series of iterations for the cob fabrication and form-finding (Involving Grasshopper scripting and Rhino) that would result in the final design that is suited for 3D printing using the KUKA I PRC facilities at Cardiff University.