Commonage’s Rain-Capturing Cowshed is Made Entirely From Reclaimed Materials

<a href="http://www.commonagecallan.com">Commonage</a> is a community-based organization that provides a critical platform for art and architecture projects in the public realm. They recently commissioned a group of students known as <a href="http://thecowshedcollective.wix.com/commonage">The Cowshed Collective</a> to design a cowshed for a cow and her calf on an existing farm in Ireland. This might not sound like a big deal, but the 17-day design and build summer workshop brought together recent architecture graduates from as far as Greece and Norway, and it promoted a collaborative and sustainable approach to creating an extension to the farm run by the Camphill Callan Community. The resulting <a href="http://inhabitat.com/cista-rainwater-cachement-by-moss-sund-and-figforty/">rainwater-capturing</a> building is made entirely out of reclaimed materials.

Commonage invited a group of students to work on a collaborative design project in Ireland

Called The Cowshed Collective, the students participated in a 17 day design and build summer workshop

The result of the collaboration is a rainwater-capturing cowshed for a cow and her calf

The program was added on to an existing farm run by the Camphill Callan Community

The building was made entirely out of reclaimed materials

The cow tests her new home!

Materials used include brick, galvanized steel, timber and cut plywood panels from a former installation

A riverwalk was devised in a former workshop

The Calan Gate provides public access points

A render of the cowshed design

Rainwater is captured and channeled for the cow and her calf