Crit Day!

Pin Up for the Final Crit

This Wednesday was the report hand in and the presentation for all the individual projects in Stage 5 MARch at Kent School of Architecture.  

The day went really well and there was some great feedback from the tutors.  Everyone had some great individual work, and it was good to see what everyone else had been up to.

The Story So Far....

A short video of where we are up to. . . . 

Day 2 on site

Luckily a very beautiful Kentish day!

The willow weaved plinth wall was lined with waste plastic sheet from the polytunnels. The voids were then filled with bark from the pruning and lined again with another sheet of polythene to act as DPM.

Initial stakes are inserted and the first bales are laid.

Staking down each bale as it is laid for rigidity and to keep the walls in line.

Cross bracing door opening put into place to keep the bales tight and upright.

Losing light on the third course of bales. Time to call it a day

Day 1 on site

Started on site today with the willow weave plinth wall.

Site all marked out and leveled, ready to go!

weaving the willow in a twining fashion, to get the tightest weave possible for filling.

End of day 1. 

 Early start tomorrow to get the rest of the willow cut and weaved, ready for the straw bales.

Willow Weaving

For the natural plinth wall, I wish to make the border out of willow weave. 

When this is done properly it looks very neat and beautiful 

I had my first attempt this Christmas....

Little more practice needed.

For the plinth wall we need 150mm of tightly packed willow weave, which I can waterproof and build the bales directly onto.

Using some of the cuttings we had another go at a required height.

This was assisted by some local children.

Even though the snow has halted anything starting on site, I can construct all the elements under cover ready for the quick erection.

Crit Day

Crit Sheet

Presentation day - Due to weather conditions I did not have much physical work to show on site. 

We presented to our tutors, and guests for 20 minutes, in powerpoint form. 

The feedback was all positive, (the sheet above) .

I had various models to show at 1:50 how elements would go together 

Tyre foundations with plinth wall.

Possible adaptation into mortise and tenon joints

willow weaved plinth wall.

Main points from the crit: write-up wise, get my facts and sources figured out.

build the best possible for the site, and then have write up and theory behind the adaptations.

My Ideas on a Natural Plinth Wall

Triangulating Bales

Currently Straw bale buildings can only be applied to the level of the eaves, and cannot fill Gable ends due to their shape. 

But I am sure this is possible? 

I am going to test this theory on a couple of my own bales.  

Being able to build the bales up into gable ends will not only create a consistent building material, but will also make sure the insulation and air tightness is consistent throughout the wall, leaving no gaps.

Wish me luck.....

Home Grown Holiday Homes!

Check out this designer, who has built Straw Bale holiday homes in Yorkshire!

The Journey.

Introduction

The goal of this journey is to Create a Home Grown House, as carbon neutral and as low-carbon footprint as possible.  I want to build with what I have on the site, in a scale and manner which would require no or minimal machinery input, and to prove to myself and to others, that building sustainably and intuitively doesn’t have to cost the earth, but it can be built using it.

Since an essay on Bill Dunsters’ BedZed in my 1^st year of Undergraduate studies, I have been highly interested in all forms of sustainable and zero-carbon design.

By the year 2016, all homes should be zero carbon, an ambitious plan set out by the UK government.  People may think this is completely unobtainable.  But it is very much within reach. 

When I first started initially thinking about zero carbon and low energy housing, I felt that it was all just a sales gimmick, the new trend in construction.  I felt like clients were getting fooled into thinking that if they bought an air-source heat pump or installed rainwater collectors then they would be single-handedly combating climate change.

But when all was put into practice, I realised that the key is off-setting.  It is all good and well building with rammed earth to be low-carbon, but how does that earth get there? If it is off-site then you need trucks to deliver it, and if it is on-site then you need JCBs to dig it up.   This energy used in transportation needs to then be off-set by your building. 

I still find it comical seeing some products available on the market labelled carbon neutral, made in China! Think of the carbon footprint which that product has already created before it has even reached the building site.
That is one of the disadvantages of technology, it needs to be powered, transported and prepared.

All we need is shelter, but the modern world has us having bespoke kitchens and bathrooms, safe electrics and plumbing, pvc worktops and laminate doors. Not exactly your natural home.  Natural homes in modern terms I think relates more to the materials used, especially in the finishes, lots of wood, beautiful earth and lime plasters, wood ceilings and trims, all of course incorporated tastefully in a code approved structure.

There are many instances now where people are taking building their own, ideal homes into their own hands, shows like Grand Designs and self builders are adapting to their surroundings to become more self-sufficient, something which I think all homes should try a hand at.

How Many Bales?

Using this set up.. I will require 

Layer 1: 15

Layer 2:  14 & 2 halves

Layer 3: 15

Layer 4:  12 & 2 halves

Layer 5:  14 & 4 halves

Layer 6:  16 

_____________________________

Total:  86 bales &  8 halves

So I should need 94 bales.  But there are always accidents and anomalies which are out of my control, such as bad bales.  

Bales as an organic building product are many shapes and sizes, and even ones made in the same machine are differing dimensions.

I have 100 bales stored and ready, so that limits me to 6 accidents... fingers crossed. 

Principles of Bale Design and Layout.

Clients should be able to design their own straw bale houses very easily, as it follows common sense principles.

Points which I have come across that are of great help:

• Know the dimensions of your bales before you draw up your final plan, I know mine are 350mm Width, 300mm high, 950mm long.  As this is the John deere Baler which we have on the farm.

The best thing to do is just confirm dimensions of bales from the source of your bales, as they vary a lot.

• Whole bales are much easier to deal with, and a great deal faster, so these should be used where possible, half bales are best, and no bales of less than half width should be used in openings, as they are weaker.  
• Another point with openings is to make sure that they do not occur any less than one bale away from corners (especially in load bearing).  
• It also makes construction a lot easier if the openings are dimensions of bales!

our window was half a bale wide and 3 bales high.  

• Remember when building loading (Nebraska) bearing that the bales will compress more than we will compress using the lorry straps due to the weight of the roof.  On average you should allow 10mm per bale. We have to make sure we consider this when we make window frames if they butt up to the top ladder.

With straw bale building, from everyone I have spoken to, it is more a case of common sense and practical experience, than engineering laboratory tests, that are put into practice here.  Tried and tested methods prevail.

I will now start my own testing using purely what I have on site.

 Home Grown House.

Best Bale Book!

Best Bale Building Book

So far with all my reading, this book by Babara Jones of Strawworks (formerly Amazonails), is the best one I have come across:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Building-Straw-Bales-Practical-Ireland/dp/190032251X

"Strawbale Building makes sense" Babara Jones

Straw Bale Building Course

Straw Bale Building Course

Rippledown Education Centre, Ringwould, Kent CT14 8HE

I have just participated in a 2 day strawbale construction course, led by Mark Saich, of Green Building Solutions. 

Day one:

We went through a thorough grounding in the History and techniques of straw bale building, case studies and the basic dos and don'ts. 

Meet and Greet - Small group of us from various backgrounds.  Farmer, Scientist, Homeowner, Carpenter, Environmentalist.

Followed by a small presentation of the History of Straw Bale Construction, then the Uses and various creditable case studies.

 Construction started by cutting fixing and bolting the base plate (which would sit on top of the plinth wall.)

constructed using lengths of 2x4

10mm holes were drilled into each step of the ladder to hold the base spikes.

The most important factor for the start was for the base ladder to be completely straight and plumb.  This we did by wedging up the timber frame.

After lunch (amazing lunch!). we had a group discussion on our methods and work situations, as well as the role of straw bale construction in the modern construction methods.

By the end of day one we had  3 courses of straw bales built up with axe sharpened stakes driven through the 3rd layer, straight downward to stabilize the bales.

There was great skill required in splitting bales using new twine and hybrid knitting needles. 

 

Day two

This started with the introduction to the new classroom build in straw bale - non load bearing - to see the plaster work and the options of framework and finishes.

We formed a sub frame for a window from 2x4 timber with chipboard pieces for diagonal bracing.   The window frame had to be made to size to relate to the amount of compression that would occur in the bales.

As we continued to build up the bale courses (6 in all) it was surprising how sturdy the stack felt, with just timber stakes hammered into them to hold their position.

 

The top ladder was cut and bolted together with holes drilled through the steps just as the base ladder, with small stakes driven through into the top bale for fixing. 

The walls were compressed initially using lorry straps and then permanently fixed with wires. overall the wall compressed down 50mm, whilst being constantly measured with a spirit level to stay plumb on all surfaces. 

To smooth the straw we trimmed the bales using a hedge-cutter.

The two days was very inspirational and educational.  And this has given me the confidence to now design and construct my own build.

http://rippledown.com/eco-courses-kent/straw-bale-courses/

http://greenbuildingsolutions.co.uk/about-green-building-solutions/