Sunshine Coast Hinterland Times

Straw bales make a perfect insulation and fire retardant building material in this post and beam construction.

“We largely work with owner builders”, said Nick who was busy applying render to an inside wall of straw bales. “We do ‘living’ or green roofs too, in fact, anything out of the ordinary. I guess it’s about bringing the old style building methods to today’s society.

Straw bale is growing in popularity across Australia, mainly because it has proven its worth and building codes have now embraced it in all states

Nick Dunn applies clay and straw render to a window deep reveal.

Nick and Roger’s current project is a small cottage on a hillside close to the village of Conondale. A basic post and beam framework with a pitched roof was erected first, before straw bales were used. The bales are compressed with wire and grippers or threaded rod, and it is the compression which adds to the solid, load-bearing structure.

Another popular aspect of using straw bales is that friends and relatives can be involved in the building.

“We had a workshop to raise the bales on this house which went up in a weekend”, says Nick.

A spacious sculptural effect is achieved.

Those same people want to come back and be involved in the rendering. That’s the attraction of the straw bale home – anyone can be involved.

Nick says it takes about the same amount of time to build with straw bales as to build a traditional brick home. The bales are totally dried and stored for many months before being delivered on site. Building inspection for a straw bale house is straight forward. It’s defined as a post and beam construction with straw bale infill, and everything is pitched and tied down as for a normal cyclone rated dwelling.

With a final earth plaster on interior walls.

“As for insulation”, says Nick with enthusiasm, “you can’t get better than straw bales. It’s an excellent insulation layer 2-3 times better than the average home which means a reduction in electricity consumption.

“Air can actually pass through the breathable nature of lime and earthern plaster, so you constantly get ‘fresh’ air into the house which people who live in strawbale houses often talk about. We don’t cement render our bales. On the outside of this house we’re going to use lime plaster and earth plaster on the inside. Nick is equally enthusiastic about the fire retardant qualities of straw bales.

“Surprisingly perhaps, because the bales are compressed so tightly, there’s very little air to help them burn.

The straw bales are covered with a 35mm render that is basically made up of clay, sand and straw. A thin top coat with an oxide colour is then applied over it. You can get different colours – blues, greens, and the standard ochre – that all come from natural pigments in the soil.

Nick and Roger have never been busier but they are enjoying the creative element required in their applied building skills. They also have a sculptor joining them who will contribute patterning and other creative moulding to the render.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but Nick is sold on the look of a finished straw bale home. “Aesthetically, I guess it’s what you like, but I think that the deep reveals around the windows and doors … it’s quite beautiful to look at and live in,” says Nick as he gets back to work smearing handfuls of render onto an inside wall.