Community Cob Kitchen in Kenya

A dream coming true: for the first time, we're bringing Tierramigo to Kenya to share earthen building knowledge and build something that will truly belong to the community.

In this 2-week intensive certified cob workshop, we'll be in the highlands of Nyahururu, building a community kitchen from the ground up, with fire at the heart of it.

In this theoretical and hands-on course, we'll build an outdoor cob kitchen from scratch: an oven, a rocket stove cooktop, benches and counters, and ornamental walls: a space designed for people to gather, cook, and share.

Two weeks of intense learning and experience, with a break in the middle for a group exploration of the region. You'll learn to build these cob elements, then move into the artistic side of cob: sculpting and plastering, letting creativity flow and exploring the full possibilities of raw earth as a building material.

Through this immersive process, you'll gain the knowledge and practical skills to build your own cob structures. The workshop is 70% hands-on, 30% theory, covering cob wall techniques, stone foundation principles, the benefits of earthen building, soil testing, earthen and lime plaster preparation and application, sculpting with cob, and much more!

Join us for this experience and become part of the TIERRAMIGO community, gaining access to the community group, connecting with fellow earthen builders and enthusiast, and getting special discounts on future trainings and programs.

THE PLACE

Nyahururu is a beautiful town in central Kenya, located about 190 km northwest of Nairobi at an altitude of approximately 2,300 meters above sea level. It is known specially for its waterfalls, the breathtaking Nyahururu Falls, the cool high-altitude climate, and the home of champions, the marathon runners who have won titles all over the world.

The project is hosted by Liza, her partner Torben, and their two children. Liza was born in the beautiful town of Nyahururu. I first got to know Liza and Torben through message exchanges, and later through long video calls talking about the project. We felt it was heading in the right direction, so we decided to move forward and organize what will be the first of many workshops to come.

On her words:

Growing up there was a gift that has shaped who I am today. I had a simple but incredibly happy childhood. We had no television, no telephone, no gas, and often no electricity. Every evening, our family gathered around a small charcoal stove called a jiko. A jiko is a traditional cooking stove fueled by charcoal or wood, and for us it was much more than a way to prepare food.
Cooking outdoors around the jiko was a daily ritual.

The women of the neighborhood would gather together to prepare meals, exchange stories, share wisdom, support one another, and teach the younger generation. It was a place where laughter mixed with the smell of food, where knowledge was passed from one generation to the next, and where no woman ever had to carry her burdens alone.

Looking back, I now understand that this was also a place of healing.

The deepest wounds were often healed around the fire. People listened without judgment, comforted each other, and reminded one another that no one walks through life alone. It was community in its purest form.

Sadly, much of this tradition is disappearing.

Last year, when my beloved father passed away, something extraordinary happened. The women of our community came together with their cooking pots and prepared meals outdoors for the many visitors who came to mourn with us. Even in the middle of my deepest grief, I felt surrounded by love. Standing there beside the fires, watching the women cook together, all my childhood memories came flooding back. I realized that the greatest comfort was not only the food—it was the community.

It was there, among these women, that I truly allowed myself to grieve, to cry, and slowly to begin healing. They had carried me since birth, and once again they carried me through one of the hardest moments of my life. That experience planted a dream in my heart.

I wanted to build a beautiful natural outdoor kitchen as a gift to this community that has given me so much. Not simply a structure, but a place where people could gather again as they once did: a place where traditions are preserved, where meals are shared, where stories are told, where wisdom is passed on, where children learn from their elders, and where healing happens naturally through human connection.

Then I discovered your work, Nico. The beauty, simplicity, and soul in your natural buildings immediately spoke to me. I knew you were the person who could help guide this dream into reality.

This outdoor kitchen is not just about cooking.
It is about rebuilding community.
It is about slowing down in a world that has become too fast.
It is about creating a place where people feel they belong.
A place where neighbors can meet without an agenda.
A place where women can support one another again.
A place where children can experience traditions that are slowly disappearing.
A place where visitors from around the world can sit around the fire, prepare food together, laugh, sing, dance, and experience the beauty of being fully present.

Food has always connected people, but fire connects hearts.

My hope is that this kitchen becomes a living space where culture, nature, and community come together. A place that reminds us that healing does not always happen in hospitals or therapy rooms. Sometimes healing happens around a fire, while preparing a meal together, listening to stories, sharing silence, or simply knowing that you are not alone.

This is the purpose of the outdoor kitchen. It is not only a building.
It is a place where people reconnect—with each other, with nature, with their traditions, and ultimately with themselves. And this will continue to serve generations long after we are gone.

COURSE DETAILS

Having a workshop in Kenya is something beyond what I could have imagined. Planning this workshop has been a true joy, especially after my conversations with Liza, understanding what the purpose of this space will be.

Fire and earth will be the two main elements of this building. Cob is such a versatile technique, creative and filled with endless possibilities. We'll be building not just walls and benches, but also artifacts for cooking. Some of these have existed for thousands of years; they've evolved, and the knowledge has passed down through generations and across cultures. There are so many variations, and we're going to build one of them.

In this workshop, we'll dive into cob as a building technique and build two cooking artifacts: a cob oven and a Lorena stove, also known as a rocket cooktop. We'll go from the foundations up, learning a new aspect of the build day by day, until it's complete: sculpting the walls and every surface, giving it a unique character with all our creativity. We'll finish it with a layer of natural earthen plaster to protect the material.

This 2-week intensive workshop dives into cob, starting Friday, January 15th, with a welcome dinner and workshop introduction. There will be a weekend off in the middle, so you'll have time to rest — and to explore!

Note: during the workshop we'll prepare some elements for the roof but the actual roof won't be built during the workshop.

What is a cob oven?

It is a traditional oven built with a mixture of clay, sand, straw, and water. Its operation is based on the retention and gradual release of heat by its thick earthen walls. These ovens are known for their high heat-retention efficiency, reaching very high temperatures, where the heat cooks food through three physical mechanisms: radiation – heat from the fire and the hot walls toward the food, convection – hot air circulating inside the oven, and conduction – the direct transfer of heat from the hot surface to the food (the oven floor).

Thus, these ovens are capable of gradually retaining heat for hours, making them very practical and versatile for cooking different foods: from instant pizzas to stews, meats, vegetables, and even—at the end, using the residual heat—for fermenting yogurt, dehydrating foods, and proofing bread.

Cob is a very inclusive, organic, and creative earth-building technique that allows us to shape walls freely, working with curves very easily. In this way, we can sculpt around the oven and its bench, turning it into a collective work of art.

What is a Lorena Stove?

A Lorena stove is a fuel-saving cookstove built from a cob mix: the name itself comes from lodo (mud) and arena (sand), and it originated in highland Guatemala, where cooking was traditionally done over an open fire.

It was designed to solve real cooking problems: scarce fuel, wood as the primary source, indoor cooking where smoke from open fires was a health hazard, and food needing slow heat over long cook times. Compared to an open fire, a Lorena-style design can cut firewood use by roughly half while keeping smoke out of the home and retaining heat for hours.

The first weekend, we'll dive into the principles of stone foundations — starting from scratch, digging trenches, and building solid, stable stone foundations for the outdoor kitchen.

We'll introduce different natural building techniques and explore clay soil as the main component of earthen building. You'll test and analyze different soils so you can learn how to perform your own soil tests, covering the basics of earthen building: understanding different natural building techniques, the benefits of building with earth, how to analyze and stabilize clay soil for use as cob or adobe, and how to mix cob.

Next, we'll dive into cob ovens and cooktops. You'll learn how to build your own oven using clay soil and other natural materials, alongside a rocket cooktop and other kitchen elements: benches, counters, and walls!

Once the elements are built, creativity comes in: we'll sculpt every piece to make it unique, tell a story, and let the artistic side of cob flow through us and into our building. Once sculpting is finished, we'll dive into earthen and lime plasters: how to prepare and test them, their properties, and why we use them.

By the end, you'll truly feel the technique, and take with you valuable theoretical and practical knowledge — empowering you to experiment and build your own cob oven, walls, benches, garden structures, or even a small cob cabin. This is the perfect first dive into cob building, with a small-scale project you can take on yourself.

During your stay, you'll be immersed in the beautiful atmosphere of the hills of Nyahururu. We will explore the town and the waterfall, and we will plan a group trip!

We'll be sharing delicious meals and there will be plenty of opportunities to connect, exchange ideas, and build meaningful relationships. Bring your ideas and projects so we have time to explore them and help. If you are working on a project or intend to build something, we will be here to help and guide you in your next moves!

CONTENT

• Understanding clay and its properties

• How to test and assess clay soil for building

• Introduction to other natural building techniques

• Benefits of earth as a building material

• Stone foundation principles

• Cob: how to mix and build

• Cob oven steps and how to design and build your own

• Lorena stove steps and how to design and build your own

• Earthen plasters: how to test, stabilize and apply fine plasters

• Lime plasters and lime cycle

• Sculpting with cob

Feel free to ask questions throughout - we are here to help!

All course materials will be provided digitally after the workshop

DAILY SCHEDULE

The daily schedule may be subject to weather conditions or slight modifications.

08:00 to 09:00 - Breakfast
09:00 to 13:00 - Morning Session
13:00 to 14:30 - Lunch
14:30 to 17:30 - Afternoon Session
18:30 to 19:30 - Dinner
19:30 to 20:30 - Evening Activities

Some afternoons we will have lectures related to the topics we are working on. On certain evenings, we will also have video nights, presentations or activities connected to the workshop themes, serving as a complement to the learning experience.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Be prepared for physical work, so please bring suitable clothing, closed-toe shoes, flip flops and rubber gloves. Don't forget a hat, water bottle, and a notebook: anything you need to feel comfortable!

We also encourage you to bring a sample of your own soil, if possible, for testing and analysis during the course.

This workshop will be taught in English.

Please note: we have a clear plan and schedule for building a specific structure during the workshop. However, building is inherently influenced by factors such as weather conditions, material availability, and other unexpected events. If necessary, we may adjust the programme, and the final structure may differ from the original plan.

ACCOMMODATION & MEALS

During your stay, you will be staying in a shared house. There are two options for shared rooms with different prices: for a 2 people dorm, the price is €140 per person, and for a 4 people dorm the price is €70 per person. In case you would like a private room, please get in touch and we will see if there is availability.

The house has shared bathrooms with hot showers and internet access. Very simple but very comfortable! Linen will be provided but please bring your own towel.

All meals are included during the workshop: breakfast, snack, lunch, and dinner. Meals will be balanced and nutritious to keep you energized and healthy. If you have any dietary restrictions, please let us know and we will try our best to accommodate your needs.

During the day offs, the kitchen will be available with ingredients to prepare a general brunch and dinner for everyone, but without someone preparing it for us, so we can arrange a way to collaborate and help to prepare it.

TRANSPORTATION

Nyahururu is a beautiful town in central Kenya, located about 190 km northwest of Nairobi at an altitude of approximately 2,300 meters above sea level.

After arriving at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi, you can take a taxi or Uber to Nyamakima Bus Station. The journey usually costs between 2,000 and 2,500 Kenyan Shillings, which is approximately €13–€17, depending on the exchange rate and traffic. If you would like, the host can arrange a reliable taxi driver .

From Nyamakima Bus Station, you can take one of the Nissan minibuses (locally known as matatus) to Nyahururu. The journey takes about 3 hours, sometimes less depending on traffic. A ticket costs 700 Kenyan Shillings, which is approximately €4.50. The host will pick the students from Nyahururu bus station to the location where we will be building.

If you have any doubts, please contact us!

REGISTRATION & FEES

The price includes the whole workshop, accommodation, three hearty meals per day, and access to the Tierramigo Community.

2-week Cob Workshop
€790 VERY Early Bird until October 1st !
€850 Early Bird until November 1st !
€990 Regular Rate

The price includes accommodation in a 4 ppl room. If you would like to be in a 2 ppl room, it will have an additional cost of €70.

The workshop is limited to a maximum of 12 participants. To register, fill out the form or contact Nico at tierramigo@gmail.com or via WhatsApp at +569 9089 7292.

To save your spot you need to make a €400 deposit and pay the rest by December 1st.
Payments can be made via bank transfer, Wise, Revolut or credit card with an additional fee.
If you need to arrange to pay in installments to accommodate your financial situation, please contact us, we can find a way!

There are 2 work-trade positions available. Each work-trade offers a €100 discount in exchange for 1 hour of work per day for kitchen help. Feel free to ask about or propose another type of exchange if you wish to participate in this experience!

Kenyan students have a reduced price of €400 for the program.

Members of the TIERRAMIGO community receive a 20% discount.

THE INSTRUCTOR

Nico Pimentel is a Chilean architect and natural builder, founder of Tierramigo.
He is also the co-founder of PIWA, an architecture and design studio based in Chile, focused on housing and hospitality projects in rural areas, with a strong sensitivity to the landscape, the use of natural materials, and passive solar design techniques.

Since 2017, Nico has explored earthen building techniques and facilitated international workshops in various formats: from full builds to mid- and short-term trainings, working throughout Latin America and Europe.

He co-founded Jungla Peumayen, a wildlife and ecosystem conservation reserve in southern Chile, and Kalina, a creative hub and workspace located in the forests of northern Patagonia, where he is developing a Summer School and Fellowship program.

CANCELLATION POLICY

If you need to cancel after registering for any reason, your payment will be subject to the following cancellation policy:

Cancellations notice given more than 30 days before the start of the course will receive a 95% refund of the total program price you choose. The 5% retention covers administrative fees and inconveniences.

Cancellations notice given between 14 - 30 days of the start of the course will receive a 50% refund of the total program price you choose. The retained amount will be kept as credit for a future workshop with Tierramigo.

Cancellations notice given less than 14 days before the start of the course are non-refundable.
The retained amount will be kept as credit for a future workshop with Tierramigo.

If the workshop is cancelled by the organizers, you will receive a full refund.

CONTACT US

tierramigo@gmail.com

If you would like to request more information about workshops, if you would like to host one, or information regarding consultancy, please contact us and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

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