The Straw Bale House, known also as The House of Straw, was the concept, design and accomplishment of Sarah Wigglesworth and her partner Jeremy Till. The idea was to create a modern urban working and living environment discovering solutions to both eco-f

Authors Avatar

14th November 2009

CANTERBURY SCHOOL of ARCHITECTURE 2009-10

Cultural Context 1: House

CARC 1017

Essay Assignment – Ajay Singh Sihra;  0653286

Word Count (INCLUDING REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY): 1773

Word Count (EXCLUDING REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY): 1392

Subject Area: Sarah Wigglesworth & Jeremy Till, Straw Bale House (2001)

The Straw Bale House, known also as The House of Straw, was the concept, design and accomplishment of Sarah Wigglesworth and her partner Jeremy Till.  The idea was to create a modern urban working and living environment discovering solutions to both eco-friendliness and sustainability whilst simultaneously promoting awareness to these factors.  But how eco-friendly was the build and the materials used? And now eight years after the completions just how eco-friendly and sustainable is 9 Stock Orchard Street?

Before I can examine the ideas behind the design of this build it is better if you first understand the site and layout itself.  Firstly the building has an L shape layout with the longer side running perpendicular to the railway line.  It has a mixture of levels and combination of vernacular and modern architecture.  After entering the site through the willow hurdled front gate you will find, from right to left, the railway line framed by recycled concrete gabions with an inner core of fire regulated reinforced concrete pillars.  The office block that sits facing the railway line rests upon metal coils that assuage the vibrations caused by passing trains, which in turn sit upon the gabions 1.  Moving away from the office leads you into the living area and the stairwell to a five-storey tower lined with books that culminates with a reading space overlooking North London 2.  Passing through the living room will find you standing in the bedroom wing, which is where the project derives its name as the walls are insulated with straw bales.  The bales do not act as load-bearing walls but are merely used for their insulating properties and rest between a timber-framed structure.  The straw bales were unable to be used in their load-bearing way, as planning permission wasn’t grated, however using them as in-fill is advantageous when designing multi-story and complexly planned structures 3.  This is mainly due to their highly insulating properties, which are reported to be at least three times greater than the minimum requirement.

Join now!

The house is compiled with a multitude of different materials to suit the different needs of the building.  The office wall that faces the railway had a need to be acoustically protected and therefore high in mass.  Sandbags were the chosen option filled with hydraulic sand, lime and cement mix, this was intended to harden leaving a soft mix wall visible after the bags had decayed.  The reasoning behind this wall is that it contains low cement content and embodied energy than that ...

This is a preview of the whole essay