Straw bale building project
‘Working with straw is unlike working with any other building material. It is simple, flexible, imprecise, and organic.’ Barbara Jones, Straw Bale Futures
With more and more people coming to help and learn at the farm we need a small indoor space to deliver workshops and training. We are always trying to find ways to reduce the environmental impact of the projects at the farm and ultimately be an environmental improvement centre. Therefore how and with what we will build this building out of had to fit with these aims.
We wanted to build something that everyone can be a part of, does not harm our environment in its construction and will be a good healthy space to work in. We decided to build our resource centre out of straw bales.
People
Straw bales are easy to work with and all it takes to get involved is an interest and lots of patience. You don’t need to be an expert builder.
Building with straw bales is co-operative, it is not a job that can easily be done alone and encourages people to work together and help each other.
We will be offering training courses at all stages of the build. Please do get in touch if you are interested in finding out more or would like to book on a training course.
For more details please get in touch by calling Emma on 020 7729 6391 or
Environment
Straw is a waste product from the intensive agricultural industry. Four million tonnes of straw are produced surplus to requirements each year. By using this waste product we can avoid using the many damaging construction materials that are available. It is estimated that over 50% of greenhouse are produced by the construction industry and the transport associated with it. We are buying our straw bales form a specialist farm in Hertfordshire, they will come 37 straw miles!
The whole building design will incorporate reused, recycled and renewable materials within the foundations, the roof and the floor. These will include reclaimed timber, sheep’s wool, earth, clay and lime.
Healthy Living
Many modern building materials contain chemicals such as formaldehyde, which are highly toxic. Straw is natural and breathable keeping the air fresh and circulated inside the building.
Also straw bales keep you warm. The 450mm thick bales are super insulators and are typically two or three times better than the building regulation standard.
Emma and Julia cutting the bales to fit
Wool is added for insulation
Fitting the bale into place is tricky business