SubscribeWhite Design has helped design and build "Balehaus@Bath", a two-storey, straw-bale house as part of a research project on the University of Bath campus. We are part of the team contributing to an innovative research programme at the university's BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials. BaleHaus™ is an entirely renewable way to construct homes, usingModCellTM prefabricated straw bale cladding panels.
The BaleHhausTM has been fitted with the latest testing technologies to monitor all aspects of the building's performance over 12 months. Air tightness, relative humidity, acoustics and thermal performance will be key aspects of the investigation.
The research team will be assessing straw bales and hemp as building materials to establish how they could be used more widely for housing, helping the UK achieve its targets for reducing carbon emissions. Due to the high insulating properties of straw, houses made of straw bales need almost no conventional heating, keeping running costs low and minimising environmental impact.
The ModCellTM panels on the first floor of the building are being recycled from a previous project. They are the same panels used by Kevin McCloud in the experimental 'House That Kevin Built' at Grand Designs Live in 2008. We are delighted that they have found a new home at the University of Bath.
But the story won't end at the close of the research project ..... we have designed the building so that it can be be dismantled and relocated to another site.
For more details, please visit:
www.bath.ac.uk/features/balehaus
www.modcell.co.uk/page/balehaus
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