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Building Straw Bale
I first heard about straw bale buildings not long after I arrived in New Zealand in the mid-nineties. For a sophisticated European (as I was then), even the idea of a wooden house with a corrugated iron roof was a little “bush”. Where I came from wooden buildings with tin roofs were chicken sheds. Even wooden barns got tiled roofs. So when someone mentioned that a friend was building a straw bale house, I started to feel pretty uneasy about this pioneering outpost that I’d arrived in with my Kiwi husband and young daughter. The fact that I was reading her the story of The Three Little Piggies didn’t help. Timber seemed flimsy enough. But straw bale just seemed silly. Well, that was then and this is now. Today I’m deeply involved with the creation of my very own straw bale home. I didn’t make this decision lightly. There was a considerable amount of reading, visiting and contemplating technical things like bracing and relative humidity that preceded my decision to go the same way as the first little piggie. And it turns out, I’m not alone. Straw bale homes are popping up all over New Zealand following a blossoming of the building method across the US, Canada and parts of Europe. The last 30 years has seen a boom in research and technical methodology that supports straw bale as a valid way to make a lovely home. Although straw has been used in building since people moved out of caves and into huts, it wasn’t until the advent of the baling machine in the mid 1800s in Nebraska that the potential for building with these giant building blocks was conceived. Early straw bale homes simply stacked the bales up and then loaded a roof on top which was appropriate for a dry climate in which there was lots of straw but not very many trees. Later different methods were discovered that included more timber to take the emphasis off straw as a load-bearing material and allow increased creativity in the way it could be used. In New Zealand with the competitively humid climate, the timber frame method is the most commonly used. After all, timber takes a lot longer than straw to rot if it gets wet and as we’re all very aware, buildings in New Zealand do get wet! So what sort of person wants a straw bale home? Architectural Designer Richard Smart has designed several straw bale homes and has noticed three main groups forming. “There are definitely those who are motivated by green issues and see straw bale as a low impact building system. Then there is a group who are more attracted to the aesthetic appeal. And finally there are the pragmatists who like to feel that they’re doing their best for the planet but want a gorgeous home too.” For the first group who are driven by the strong environmental concern, straw bale homes have a natural look and feel, fit with the requirement for being a sustainable material and to a certain extent can be created by skilled, enthusiastic and committed amateurs (with the help of a builder). But it is the aesthetic appeal of straw bale homes that really sets them apart from those built with other more conventional materials. The deep undulating walls give straw bale homes substantial and elegant living spaces. “It’s the rounded edged, sculptural look with the deep reveals that create such an impression,” says Smart. “One of the most impressive aspects is the gentle play of shadow and light across the surface of the walls.” The very thickness of the walls tends to lead to larger homes with gracious layout and a more grandiose scale. The hand-crafted quality can also be the perfect backdrop for a more natural approach to accessorising with timber and tiles being ideal foils. One quality that is often associated with straw bale is that it is a low cost building method. This is not usually the case reports Smart. “It’s a mistake to think of this as a cheap way to build. You have to remember that it’s really a hand-made home which means that it might even cost a little more when it comes to labour.” However, the results are worth it for straw bale homeowners. There’s a huge amount of pride, love and attention to detail that goes into building a straw bale home. “The details blow people away. Everyone who has built one loves it,” says Smart. [inset] Fire and Water Isn’t a straw bale home highly flammable? This is true only when straw is scattered and loose. Research in Canada has shown that once compacted into bales it loses that tendency to burn wildly, preferring to smoulder for hours, making straw bales more fire resistant than a timber wall. A concern that is far more real is the danger from water. Straw bales rot very quickly if left wet. So straw bale walls must be protected by wide overhangs and kept off the ground on high upstands [inset] Building with Straw Bale Straw bales are not a recognised building material under the building code. This means anyone planning to use them to build needs to know their way around the building code pretty well. Smart confirms that in his mind this is the biggest issue facing hopeful straw bale homeowners. “More and more Councils want to pass the responsibility back onto a third party. You need to be prepared to go the extra mile when working with Council; to have patience and be prepared to compromise if you want your Consent.” Finding the right builder Absolutely critical in any building project it’s even more important with straw bale homes as there is very little information or training available on the best methods. Smart feels that there are few builders who would be suitable for a straw bale project. “Finding the right builder is vital,” he says. “Your builder should be interested in learning and in doing things differently. He’ll need to be a bit flexible and prepared to think things through.” One option in some areas is to use a specialist straw bale builder some of whom have their own proprietary straw bale systems which may be familiar to local councils. However, there are not very many of these in New Zealand and they tend to be confined to certain areas. This can also be a more expensive option. But for peace of mind and knowing you have the support of people experienced with straw bale building, this could be a good solution. 
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