The mysterious Mongolian Ger, the zen-like atmosphere of the propagation shed, our giant bird nests – CERES’s eclectic nooks and crannies present a curious and arcane element to the CERES story.

Pervious paving
Laying surreptitiously next door to the Eco House, the pervious paving experiment was carried out by Monash University to test the water-efficiency of three outdoor paving surfaces. The car park once had lots of expensive monitoring equipment hidden underground to see how much water could be collected after it rained. The results have been used in the root zone filters treating black water on site.

The Gong House
The Gong House sits near the Bike Shed and water treatment pond. It’s a special place where mosaic projects come to life, tea is brewed, puppets are sewn and volunteers are fed. The Gong House roof was built with an experimental building product called Ferro cement – a low-carbon alternative to the real thing, later turned into a commercial product and used widely in sustainable building.

Strawbale House
The floor of the nearby Strawbale house was made from fly ash, a residue from coal stations that is a total waste product and now a popular alternative to concrete.

Mongolian Ger
The Ger is a traditional Mongolian tent (also yurt) pitched near the Indonesian and African villages overlooking CERES. The Ger traditionally has a fire inside and offers a cosy inner sanctum on a cold day.
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