Advent Market
Every year, on the last Saturday of November, the Corbenic Camphill Community opens to the public for visitors to attend their annual Advent Market. There is hot chocolate, mulled wine and home made soup to keep you warm, pastries and cakes from the bakery, and Hungarian Langos to fill you up (and it definitely fills you up!)
The atmosphere is great, with lots of family fun, face painting and plenty animals to say hi too. There are Christmas gift ideas made by hand in the workshops and by local artists including decorations, wreaths, paintings, prints, woodwork, pottery, candles and jewellery.
Next year our new building will be at the middle of all of this! Last year, fundraising was done from the building next door, and this year, thanks to our Contractor ECS Specialists and Site Manager John, we were able to let visitors in for a look around before it’s completed early next year.
It was really exciting to have residents, families, staff and visitors into the space. There has been many months (and years) of consultations, discussions, meetings, ideas drawings and models, to reach this stage. It was incredible rewarding to hear such positive feedback.
We are very much looking forward to the first events, in the finished building, in the new year, and to seeing how the Community adopt and use the space. And coming back to the Advent Market again next year!
Corbenic Day Service and Community Barn
Every year, on the last Saturday of November, the Corbenic Camphill Community opens to the public for visitors to attend their annual Advent Market. There is hot chocolate, mulled wine and home made soup to keep you warm, pastries and cakes from the bakery, and Hungarian Langos to fill you up (and it definitely fills you up!)
The atmosphere is great, with lots of family fun, face painting and plenty animals to say hi too. There are Christmas gift ideas made by hand in the workshops and by local artists including decorations, wreaths, paintings, prints, woodwork, pottery, candles and jewellery.
Next year our new building will be at the middle of all of this! Last year, fundraising was done from the building next door, and this year, thanks to our Contractor ECS Specialists and Site Manager John, we were able to let visitors in for a look around before it’s completed early next year.
It was really exciting to have residents, families, staff and visitors into the space. There has been many months (and years) of consultations, discussions, meetings, ideas drawings and models, to reach this stage. It was incredible rewarding to hear such positive feedback.
We are very much looking forward to the first events, in the finished building, in the new year, and to seeing how the Community adopt and use the space. And coming back to the Advent Market again next year!
More information on this project can be found here
Values: Flexibility and Materials
The new community building will support the growth of Corbenic Camphill Community and extend the current Day Service. The building will enhance the lives of residents and day participants, provide facilities for the estates team, and allow the wider community to gather in various forms and numbers. Residents at Corbenic have the opportunity to participate in a variety of multi-cultural festivals including Burn’s Night celebrations, annual Advent Market which is open to the public, and poetry events. The Community Barn will allow these larger events to be fully inclusive and well attended by all.
Corbenic Day Service and Community Barn
Our Community project in Dunkeld is progressing well on site.
The new community building will support the growth of Corbenic Camphill Community and extend the current Day Service. The building will enhance the lives of residents and day participants, provide facilities for the estates team, and allow the wider community to gather in various forms and numbers. Residents at Corbenic have the opportunity to participate in a variety of multi-cultural festivals including Burn’s Night celebrations, annual Advent Market which is open to the public, and poetry events. The Community Barn will allow these larger events to be fully inclusive and well attended by all.
Flexibility is provided by way of folding and sliding doors and walls to create appropriate spaces for the existing and future needs of the community. The new community barn will be an open, welcoming and light space, full of activity and movement. The exposed portal frame takes the form of traditional farmyard structure, and reflects the timber structure of the original barn and the existing rural setting. The use of simple natural materials will contribute to the overall Corbenic ethos of connecting to it’s surrounding environment. Finishes externally include open boarded larch cladding, and red colour corrugated metal roof. Internal finishes are of exposed plywood and textured wood wool board, which has acoustic properties.
While the original barn has been carefully taken down and re-used in construction projects elsewhere in the community, the new barn will provide a space that is not only fit for purpose, by providing the much needed community space, but also a structure that will embed itself into this special place and it’s community.
We share Corbenic values of sustainability, and respect of the physical environment around us. We also recognise the effective use of materials to create a healthy indoor climate which can directly impact the health and wellbeing, and cognitive benefits to the building users. The building itself is planned to maximise natural light, and the floor plan is super efficient, with each zone working hard for each and multiple uses. Where possible, we are using local, natural and sustainable materials, which include,
- Sisalwool natural fibre insulation in the roof, made from by-product material and produced in Scotland. ‘The world’s friendliest insulation!’
- Brodies Timber local specialist timber yard and bespoke joinery manufacturers creating beautiful Maple faced plywood internal bi-fold and sliding doors
- Troldtekt A/S wood wool boards, providing texture and sound absorption - a cement-bonded wood wool product which uses no harmful chemicals, achieving Cradle to Cradle Gold certification
More information on this project can be found here
Values : Nature and Family
Corbenic Camphill Community value being together and the environment that they are in. Their aim is to care and provide opportunities that promote independence and fosters worth in each person.
To connect with your surrounds comes easily when the community is nestled in the picturesque setting of rural Highland Perthshire, just a few miles from Dunkeld. The site is within the grounds of the old Drumour Shooting Lodge and estate, sitting above the River Braan and surrounded by trees and open hillside. Activity workshops offered at Corbenic enhance the residents’ connection to nature through meaningful work and creative projects, including bakery, craft, estate, farm, garden, horse care, house garden, pottery, woodwork.
Corbenic Day Service and Community Barn
Corbenic Poetry Path
Corbenic Camphill Community value being together and the environment that they are in. Their aim is to care and provide opportunities that promote independence and fosters worth in each person.
To connect with your surrounds comes easily when the community is nestled in the picturesque setting of rural Highland Perthshire, just a few miles from Dunkeld. The site is within the grounds of the old Drumour Shooting Lodge and estate, sitting above the River Braan and surrounded by trees and open hillside. Activity workshops offered at Corbenic enhance the residents’ connection to nature through meaningful work and creative projects, including bakery, craft, estate, farm, garden, horse care, house garden, pottery, woodwork.
Our involvement with Corbenic dates from 2018, and we really feel a part of the community, attending family weekends and the annual advent market. Corbenic Poetry Path surrounds the estate, and on more than one occasion, (Gavin) has taken a dunk in the river (it always seems to be lovely weather whenever we head up there)! Our engagement with the community is through participation on the ground and at board level. We share their values of sustainability, and respect of the physical environment around us.
The new Community Barn is of a typical farmyard portal frame structure, and where possible, we are using local, natural and sustainable materials, a shared desire for both client and architect. It was important that the new barn would fit into it’s surroundings and feel part of the existing environment. The building is primarily a place to gather, celebrate and socialise. It has been designed to be flexible and open, full of activity and movement, of people coming and going, and an extension of the open farmyard setting. The concept is to create a building that has many points of entry to reflect its position at the centre of the community.
It is a special place and we would encourage anyone to visit the Poetry Path, or come along to the Advent Market at the end of November. The Corbenic Poetry Path meanders through the beautiful landscape, and is always open and free to all.
The Community Barn is due for completion early 2026 , and there are already a plan of exciting events to celebrate it’s opening. We can’t wait to see it.
More information on this project can be found here
Community
Corbenic is a nurturing and caring environment, with a deep connection to nature. Residents experience a strong sense of belonging, within a supportive and inclusive space, where everyone is encouraged to thrive. Members of the community have the opportunity to learn and develop through participation in meaningful activities that promote independence. These values were critical throughout the design process, and continue to be as works progress on the ground.
Corbenic Day Service and Community Barn
Corbenic Camphill Community Family Weekend
The Community Barn and Day Service building for Corbenic Camphill Community sees the replacement of an existing farm building to create a new space for the community to gather, celebrate and socialise.
Corbenic is a nurturing and caring environment, with a deep connection to nature. Residents experience a strong sense of belonging, within a supportive and inclusive space, where everyone is encouraged to thrive. Members of the community have the opportunity to learn and develop through participation in meaningful activities that promote independence. These values were critical throughout the design process, and continue to be as works progress on the ground.Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
It has been a real joy to work with Jon (Jon Plunkett, Community Director) and the whole community at Corbenic. We have spent a lot of time developing the proposal, and we are extremely excited that works have started on site. It is a pleasure and privilege to be involved in the community, knowing our work will make a positive impact on the residents and staff.
This is an important project for us, one that comes with a lot of responsibility. To know that our work will contribute to the incredible level of care and support that is provided, as well as creating an opportunity for more people to enjoy and benefit the community, is hugely fulfilling.
Our construction team have felt hugely welcomed into and continue to engage with the Corbenic Community. It is an enjoyable day to visit site and watch the Community Hall take shape, to watch the chickens dodge the diggers, and to see the residents and staff together and participating in their daily activities.
As works progress on site, our responsibilities as designers come into focus. We recognise our role and the impact considerate and thoughtful design can make, and our duty to execute this to the best of our ability, within the constraints of the budget available and despite other external factors. We have strived to create a space that is not only fit for purpose, by providing the much needed community space, but a structure that will embed itself into this special place and it’s community.
The Community Barn is due for completion early 2026 , and we really can’t wait to see the building in use and enjoyed.
More information on this project can be found here
