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European StrawBale Gathering
Thursday 31st August – Sunday 3rd September Discover the progress of straw bale construction from single-family homes to affordablealternatives for various building types at ESBG 2023. Globally, central governments are announcing transformational declarations (‘net-zero’,‘decarbonisation’ etc) and the construction industry is speedily endeavouring to manage itsoperational output to mitigate the harmful emissions over the decades. In…
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Strawbale UK’s online event: Alex Burch presents, “How do strawbale walls perform in severe wind-driven rain conditions?”
Comparisons with global climates revealed the unique challenge West Wales poses for strawbale construction. Many studies have focused on measuring internal humidity and temperature of strawbale walls to determine moisture content, however, these often lacked information specific to the climate of West Wales. Alex’s work aimed to find the best method to measure moisture content…
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Finance and strawbuildings
Securing finance to build homes that are energy efficient …better for the planet should be easy. Since 1987 Ecology Building Society have supported homeowners who #buildwithstraw We need mortgage products in-place to grow the market.
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Strawbale UK’s online event with Juraj George Mikurcik and Old Holloway
The video of our online event with George and his home, Old Holloway, is now on our YouTube channel Watch it here and share with your network!
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SBUK online event. Old Holloway: An award-winning straw panel house.
Architect George Mikurcik began work on his home 14 years ago. It was the first Ecococon home built in the UK, is an award winning site and George will be discussing with us the concept, the build and sharing supporting data at our meeting. Join us to hear the stories behind this groundbreaking home and…
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Timber and Insurance – SBUK Video
YouTube video of our members’ meeting with Joe Giddings is available to watch here
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SBUK Members’ meeting Special: Timber and Insurance
Join us at our next Members’ meeting Special on Wednesday 9th November, 7pm – 8pm. Our guest speaker is Joe Giddings of ‘Built by Nature’ and he will be discussing, ‘Timber and Insurance‘. Many of you that are involved with the practical elements of building with low carbon / natural materials will understand that the sector presently has…
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MIscanthus – sbuk video
The video of our event: ‘MIscanthus – what it is and how can it benefit the sector?’ is now available to view. Thank you to our guest Fabrice Ntimugura for a brilliant presentation. Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/jr2dO29sXys
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sbuk online event – Miscanthus: How can the construction sector benefit with its use?
Did you know that Miscanthus has water vapour permeability properties compatible with that in traditional construction and sequesters carbon (around 130 kg CO2eq/m3)? Join us on Wednesday 6th July, 7pm (GMT) as we discuss the building potential in construction of this bio based material. The talk will be led by PHD Research student, Fabrice Ntimugura…
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msc module review: sustainable materials in the built environment – cat
As part of my MSc in Green Building – Centre for Alternative Technology (cat.org.uk) at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) we had great fun on the “Sustainable Materials in the Built Environment” module in May 2022 experimenting on site with clay, lime, hemp, straw, miscanthus, cork, rammed earth and other novel materials. It is a fantastic…
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Building to net zero: costing carbon in construction – Environmental audit committee report
This report stresses that “from residential to commercial buildings, the UK’s built environment is responsible for 25% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions. The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) warns that to date there has been a lack of Government impetus or policy levers to assess and reduce these emissions. With climate deadlines looming, urgent action…
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straw construction in the uk – technical guide 2022
We are very excited to announce that the ‘Technical Guide’ for Straw Construction, is now out! The Technical Guide is a vital component within the EU-INTERREG funded project, ‘UPSTRAW’, the aim of which is to promote the benefits and good practice of constructing with straw. Authored by The School of Natural Building (SNaB), who were…
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SBUK step review 2022
Under the guidance of course leader, Hubert Gruber, our SBUK Director, Kit Jones, participated in the latest edition of the ‘STEP’ programme. STEP (Strawbuilding Training for European Professionals) is a strawbuilding course (online & practical) which is curated and led by qualified and professional builders. We, at SBUK, endorse the STEP curriculum and will utilise…
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‘the last straw’
In Winter 1993 a publication entered the built environment, etching its name as a hallowed journal for straw as a construction material – The Last Straw. Emanating from USA the first issue had a national/regional take on straw construction: structural testing in Tucson; construction of an eight sided strawbale house; the Genesis farm in New…
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UK’s First ever EPD for Straw!
For the first time this gives an accurate assessment of the environmental impact of straw production in the UK. This was made possible by the European Up Straw INTERREG funded project. Led by The School of Natural Building this Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is hugely significant as it not only stamps its importance in the…
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Households declare
Energising our buildings has never become more important than now. The savvy among you would have been content to be up to speed with an ‘EPC’ or ‘U-Value’ but nowadays, the general public in the UK are seeing terminologies such as, ‘Whole House Approach’, ‘External Wall Insulation’ (EWI), ‘Internal Wall Insulation’ (IWI), ‘PAS 2035’ and…
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building the future studio 3 arts community centre
The School of Natural Building are working with Studio 3 Arts to build an extension on their community centre. Designed by architects company, Citizens Design Bureau and built by GPF Lewis and Wellspring Architecture, this is a transformation in London’s Barking and Dagenham. Read more here Not only is the work carried out using low…
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architects climate action network | natural material masterclass | straw
A panel of expert speakers met last night to present the benefits of constructing with straw, the data behind the resources and the heritage of this natural building material in Architects Climate Action Network‘s (ACAN) Masterclass for Straw A captive audience, comprising of practioners from the built environment to keenly interested people were treated to…
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the bale house
Wow! Check out at the latest video update of the ‘Bale House’ by the Constrawtium team!
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is there enough straw to build with?
John Butler has been digging away in the vaults of Government data and statistics to ascertain the answer to one of the most often asked questions we receive, “Is there enough straw to build”? The figures are interestingly optimistic (we shan’t spoilt it for you!). Dig in and sift through this very vital piece of…
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UP STRAW Zotero database
Great news! The partners of UP STRAW have collated, through the ‘Zoreto’ platform, an open source database of free reference management tools that allows the user to manage bibliographical data and documents such as websites, videos, scientific articles, books and PDFs. This will cover the regulatory aspects, construction techniques, technical and environmental performance, fire security…
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Rising Damp
This is not a homage to the popular British sitcom, but a brilliantly sharp (and witty!) conversation with Ben Kerslake of Carrington Lime and Jeffrey Hart’s Building Sustainability Podcast Through his initial foray as a roofer, to the lessons learnt as a lime plasterer, we hear how Ben has honed his craft as a tradesman…
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Holy Trinity’s Airtightness testing
Last year, SBUK member Dr Judith Thornton wrote a paper on Airtightness, of which we referenced here: https://strawbalebuildinguk.com/airtightness-and-natural-building-materials-by-judith-thornton Richard Dormandy has led the work on Holy Trinity Tulse Hill’s strawbale building, the ‘Neigbourhood Hub’, and you can watch The Holy Trinity ‘airtightness’ videos here: Airtightness Part 1 What it is and Why it Matters Airtightness…
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THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF CONSTRUCTION
A network of architects and built environment professionals met tonight to see the unveiling of The Carbon Footprint Of Construction. Led by ACAN – Architects Climate Action Network – over 300 delegates participated in tonight’s launch, listening to expert Speakers and colloborating in workshop/Breakout rooms. If you want to help to decarbonise the construction sector,…
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Densification meets natural retrofit – paris
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&u=https://www.paris.fr/pages/de-la-paille-pour-l-isolation-d-un-immeuble-de-paris-habitat-15303
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sbuk’s video presentation from NSBRC’s Virtual Building Systems Workshop – Saturday 12th December 2020
SBUK’s Treasurer and Huff and Puff proprietor, Phil Christopher, took part in the (NSBRC) National Self Build and Renovation Centre‘s Virtual Building Systems Workshop in December (2020). A well executed presentation drawing in all of the topical points in ‘strawbuilding’ construction including, ‘load-bearing’, in-fill’, ‘straw-panels’, ‘fabric first’, ‘cradle to cradle’, ‘fire-resistance’, ‘retrofit’, ‘standards’, ‘wall finishing’,…
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SBUK online event ‘Living Retrofitting Urbanism’
Wednesday 5th April Essential policies are vital for the construction sector to deliver strong guidance for climate action.Our event with Architectural Association School of Architecture for ‘Living Retrofitting Urbanism’ was a success – video will be available soon.
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ecobuild 2016
SBUK’s members were at this year’s Ecobuild. Together with ‘Natural Building Materials’ groups we displayed and demonstrated the beauty and benefits of constructing with low carbon products.
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How easy is it to find and use natural building materials? riba interview with Janna lann/grain architecture
Here is a great article by RIBA on natural building materials featuring Grain Architecture’s Janna Laan Lomas. Janna will be presenting at RIBA’s online event: Guerilla Tactics, 9th – 11th November. Programme details are HERE and tickets are HERE A project of Grain Architecture‘s is below, built in collaboration SBUK members Joe Duirwyn (Hartwyn) and…
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job: sbuk secretary role
We have a vacancy on our Board. For a full specification of the role, please see and apply here: SBUK Secretary Good luck!
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european strawbale gathering (ESBG) – sbuk webinar 2021
The full video of our ESBG webinar 2021 is now available here: click on a timestamp below, or, on one of the images to go to directly to a chapter 00:00 History of ESBG & introduction to SBUK’s webinar by Cypren Edmunds 07:29 StrawBale Building Basics with Phil Christopher 26:24 Cement Free Foundations with Barbara…
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architect climate action network – video of masterclass: straw
Now online for you to view at your leisure is the ‘Straw’ Masterclass we took part in last month. Thank you ACAN 🙌 💚 for the platform to speak about this beautiful, natural material & to all speakers who participated. Click on the image below for the video Enjoy 🙂🌾👷🏾♂️👷🏗🏠
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ESBG 2021 – SBUK webinar
Our schedule for The European Strawbale Gathering (ESBG) 2021 on Saturday 31st is here In the evening (7pm BST / 8pm CEST) we will be joining up with the European Strawbale Association for a special presentation Click here for tickets now
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ESBG 2021 – SBUK Presenters: barbara jones
‘Cement Free Foundations’ Saturday 31st July 1035 – 1135 BST online (Zoom) ‘Straw and Building Regulations’ Saturday 31st July 1225 – 1245 BST online (Zoom) Barbara Jones is a strawbale building guru having set up construction companies Straw Works, and Amazon Nails. She is the author of Building with Straw Bales – the most comprehensive guide…
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ESBG 2021 – SBUK Presenters: paul jennings
‘Airtighness’ Saturday 31st July 1400 – 1420 BST online (Zoom) Paul Jennings of Aldas, is the most experienced airtightness tester and consultant in the UK, and, with over 30 years’ experience originated the “Airtightness Champion” concept. He developed the 12 Steps to Airtightness approach to enable UK contractors to reliably deliver airtightness in Passivhaus and other low-energy…
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ESBG 2021 – SBUK Webinar
Saturday 31st July 1000-1540 BST online (Zoom) ESBG events start on Friday and finish on Sunday. The full schedule of ESBG events is viewable here: https://strawbuilding.eu Sign up for tickets using this link and on Friday and Saturday morning you will be sent information on how to join the sessions using Zoom and YouTube. On Saturday…
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ESBG 2021 – SBUK Presenters: chris hawker
‘Straw Building Project Examples’ Saturday 31st July 1155 – 1225 BST online (Zoom) Chris Hawker is a founder and co-director of Hawkland Ecological Construction, along with his business partner David Copeland. Hawkland specialise in the use of appropriate materials, with a focus on sustainability and occupant health. They have delivered several straw projects using structural…
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ESBG 2021 – SBUK Presenters: jeffrey hart
‘Straw and Mud – A Love Story’ Saturday 31st July 1440 – 1500 BST online (Zoom) Jeffrey Hart is a builder specialising in natural materials to create high performance, healthy homes. He is a founding member of SBUK and his podcast series, Building Sustainability Podcast, where he talks to designers, builders, dreamers and doers in…
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ESBG 2021 – SBUK Presenters: joe duirwyn
‘Whole Life Carbon – What it is and what it means to our material choices’ Saturday 31st July 1420 – 1440 BST online (Zoom) Joe has worked at the sustainable end of construction for over 20 years. With a strong background in conventional building he has consistently worked towards a more integrated approach where sustainability…
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ESBG 2021 – SBUK Presenters: phil christopher
‘Straw Building Basics’ Saturday 31st July 1015-1035 BST online (Zoom) Phil Christopher is an environmentalist, builder and trainer and he believes passionately in making a low-impact lifestyle an attractive possibility for everyone. Phil runs Huff and Puff Construction, specialising in straw bale and sustainable building, training and design. Phil is also part of Straw-bale Building UK…
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ACAN’s Natural Materials Masterclass: Straw
We are very excited to be a part of this very special event – it is the perfect accompaniment to launch ESBG 2021 the following day Join us as SBUK founding members, Phil Christopher, Barbara Jones, Joe Duirwyn and Cypren Edmunds present topics across the colouful kaleidoscope of constructing with straw, at ACAN’s second episode…
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European StrawBale Gathering (ESBG) 2021
As members of ESBA we are proud to announce our virtual/online participation of European StrawBale Gathering (ESBG) on Friday 30th July – Sunday 1st August 2021 The full programme and Tickets are available here: E.S.B.A. The three days will feature: educational, ‘live’ and Q&A sessions from SBUK and our fellow members of E.S.B.A. (European StrawBale…
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Sustainability of the Built Environment – Written evidence from StrawBale Building UK
In May we submitted evidence to the UK’s Environment Audit Committee regarding, ‘Sustainability of the Built Environment’. Our paper, amongst many other worthy submissions, was accepted by the Committee, and will be taken into consideration once the debate is opened for discussion in the near future. The SBUK’s document can be read here Many thanks…
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ACAN’s Natural Materials Business Survey
To support preparing a response for EAC’s ‘Sustainability in the built environment‘ inquiry, ACAN have prepared a quick-fire survey of businesses working in the natural materials industry. The intention is to quickly gather some fresh evidence and insights for solutions and actions the government can take to support businesses working with natural materials – producers,…
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Green Solutions Award 2021 – Vote for ‘The Bale House’!
🏆 The Bale House 🇬🇧Located in a UK Nature Reserve in Hastings this constructed with recycled, fireproof, and breathable materials. A unique straw bale building that requires next to no energy to run and stays comfortable all year long due to its high insulation. This UPSTRAW Project uses natural materials such as lime, wood and…
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UPSTRAW Yearbook 2020
The UPSTRAW Yearbook 2020 is now released. Starting in 2017, this project is a collaboration between European countries (Belgium, France, Germany Netherlands and Hastings – UK) via INTERREG, with the theme of ‘public investment in straw building’ – including five new public buildings built using straw and other natural materials. Other project outcomes covered in…
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Women in Construction – International Women Day
Three fantastic women, 3 leaders of industry. As founding members of Strawbale UK these women have been with us from the start and today are as integral to our vision: Mary Rawlinson, SBUK Chair, Green and Castle & Constrawtium, Barbara Jones of Straw Works, Eileen Sutherland School of Natural Building
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UPSTRAW – Building for change – Online training programme – Session 2
Happy New Year! Session 2 of the MOOC is now online. In keeping with the global advancement of online learning, the straw building project, UPSTRAW, has partnered with the sustainable platform, MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) Offering free training, open to all, its is accessible wherever you are 24 hours a day! Starting from the…
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call for entries for ASBP 2021 Awards
ASBP Awards 2021 Supporters of enviromentally friendly building products ‘The Alliance for Sustainable Products’ (ASBP) are calling out for entries of their prestigious event, #ASBPAwards To say that it has been a tough year would be quite an understatement, and next year’s award is consciously proposing to reflect the innovation utilised in the UK. “We…
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Constructing Excellence SECBE ‘People’s Choice Award’
Richard Dormandy and his team of ‘Holy Trinity’ in Tulse Hill are finalists in the ‘Construction Excellence SECBE – ‘People’s Choice Award’, in the catergory ‘Sustainability’. We visited them last year and reported on the brilliant work that they are doing in not just utilising strength in community spirit (500 volunteers!) but in constructing this…
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UPSTRAW Database of Strawbale Buildings
The School of Natural Building team are drawing up a complete and comprehensive database of strawbale buildings in the UK and Ireland! Interreg Database of Strawbale buildingsThrough their partnership with other European countries, funded by Interreg and called UP Straw, the School of Natural Building (SNaB) is drawing up a database of all known strawbale…
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UPSTRAW YEAR BOOK 2019
A new online publication has arrived: UPSTRAW YEAR BOOK 2019 This edition begins with an introduction on the benefits of building with straw. Watch out for forthcoming issues! These will feature projects on the INTERREG project and technical articles ➡️ ➡️ ️ ➡️ UPSTRAW
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Futurebuild 2020
Visiting @FuturebuildNow today? Go see Barbara Jones @strawworks at the #NaturalBuilding area, stand G70 Together with @Terra_Perma_EB, @EarthBuildingUK, and @lime_products it is a full day of building demonstrations lined up for today and tomorrow!
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Constrawtium update
Wow! Work on the Visitors’ Centre in Hastings is going through at a rapid pace. Plywood is up and one of the Constrawtium crew is sanding it down before applying the wax for a surface finish Instagram: @constrawtium
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Airtightness and natural building materials by Judith Thornton
This is a great introductory blog to those of you who are new to the idea of working with natural building materials. It challenges the outcomes of what is considered ‘airtight’ and the relevancy of that within construction and comfortability to the user. It is easy to understand and with no jargon, so it is…
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From the Australian press…the good news keeps on coming about ESBG 2019
David Thorpe wrote for the Australian on-line journal, The Fifth Estate wrote about ESBG 2019: https://www.thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/public-authorities-should-hold-tenders-for-straw-bale-buildings/ ESBG2019 was supported by INTERREG for the umbrella project ‘UPSTRAW’. As part of the UPSTRAW project a UK consortium, Constrawtium, are undertaking the building of the new Visitors Centre in Hastings So nice to see the love spreading to…
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Constrawtium at The Big Green Fair
This Sunday 29th September, 11am – 4pm, SBUK Director Mary Rawlinson is at the Big Green Fair Mary is representing the Constrawtium group, which is a consortium of UK natural material builders enabled by the INTERREG/UPSTRAW initiative The INTERREG/UPSTRAW deal promotes straw buildings to the public sector and Constrawtium are building the new Visitors’ Centre…
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ESBG 2019 #UPSTRAW Todmorden, Yorkshire – Straw sharing
This was a day for sharing techniques, networking, providing examples of new strawbale buildings, promoting the developments in straw bale building in Europe, more workshops…and playing with Lego in Todmorden’s Hippodrome theatre. Phew!
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ESBG 2019 #UPSTRAW, Todmorden, Yorkshire. Straw goes public & in Communities
To say that this event was spectacular is an understatement. Visitors from across Europe went on guided tours of buildings made of straw in the locality, attended workshops, expert speakers’ delivered jaw-dropping presentations and, we had a ceilidh. Bring on the next European Straw Bale Gathering.
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Construction of the Hastings Country Park’s Visitor Centre by Constrawtium
In 2017 we ventured with other members of the INTERREG initiative UPSTRAW, to see the above area for a new Vistors’ Centre in Hastings. Murray Davidson of Hastings Borough Council spoke about the ambition for the proposed build and we explored how to could pool our energies to bring this to frution. In May of…
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SBUK founder members Chris Hawker & David Copeland are Speakers at ESBG 2019
Chris and David have been with SBUK since day one. Respected builders in the industry they bring with them a studious and creative outlook having met whilst studying at the Centre of Alternative Technology. Their expertise will feature in a workshop on straw bale building within a timber frame. Come and see them at esbg2019.org
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ESBG 2019
The European Straw Bale Gathering (ESBG) is a biennial event, which the UK is privileged to be hosting, for the first time, in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. Tickest are available here ESBG this year is part of the Interreg funded UP Straw project. In keeping with the aims of UP Straw, we will be demonstrating the…
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Tulse Hill Straw Bale Build
In the urban landscape of London, where land to build is scarce, and new build opportunities are few and far between, the area of Tulse Hill is fortunate to have within its community a construction that is currently taking place on epic proportions. Arguably, Europe’s largest urban straw bale build, the Tulse Hill Bale Build…
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Come and see us on the @NaturalBuildUK stand G57, at @futurebuild: Today – Thursday!
Come and visit our director @JNaturalBuilder from @hartwyn and @NaturalBuildUK partners at @futurebuild : Stand G57
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Omer Saatcioglu from University of Bath is speaking at the BSBG
Really pleased to have Omer presenting the excellent research work from the University of Bath – The lecturer will give information about a load-bearing straw-bale wall assembly which aims to be an economical alternative for the countries where timber is a limited natural source. Get your tickets now from www.strawbalebuildinguk.com/The-Big-Straw-Bale-Gathering Name: N.Omer Saatcıoğlu Organisation: University of…
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Rae Parkinson is teaching clay plastering!
The wonderfully talented, Rae Parkinson, is teaching a clay plastering workshop at the Big Straw Bale Gathering! All workshops and talks and included in the ticket price – so get your ticket now here! Workshop Synopsis: Learn the preparation of straw walls for plastering, application of clay slip and body coat. Plus some tips and…
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BSBG Workshop – Will Stanwix – Making Clay Straw Blocks
Will Stanwix, co-author of ‘The Hempcrete Book: Designing and building with hemp-lime’ will be running a workshop at the Big Straw Bale Gathering teaching you how to create you own clay straw blocks. Learn about how to vary the mix to create insulating blocks or mass blocks and how to lay them. The practical workshops are…
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BSBG Workshop – Hawkland – Intro to building with bales
The practical workshops are a massive part of the Big Straw Bale Gathering. A chance for you to learn the hands on skills necessary to build your own home, or brush up on some of the latest techniques. Workshops are included in the ticket price, and will require signing up on the morning of the workshop…
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Keynote speakers – Ed & Rowena Waghorn
We are so pleased to add Ed and Rowena Waghorn as keynote speakers for the Big Straw Bale Gathering. Their Episode of Grand Designs, which took over 10 years to complete, is a work of art. We are delighted they are coming to share their views on building a home. Name: Ed and Rowena Waghorn Organisation:…
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Emma Appleton – Speaker at the BSBG
We are so pleased to announce Emma Appleton’s talk at the Big Straw Bale Gathering. Emma is a very talented straw bale builder and heritage woodworker. Warm, bright and just enough is her design mantra. Tickets are on sale now for the reduced price (thanks to European funding) of £75. Get yours now! Name: Emma Appleton…
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James Shorten from Regenerative Settlement Trust
We are incredibly pleased to add James Shorten to our massive list of speakers for the Big Straw Bale Gathering. James was the main author on the Welsh Government’s One Planet Development guidance. He is a planning expert and will be talking about regenerative settlements. James is part of an all star natural building lineup…
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Peter Beresford and Henrik Saarinen speaking at the BSBG
We are very pleased to add Peter Beresford and Henrik Saarinen from Structural Solutions to the lineup for The Big Straw Bale Gathering. Structural Solutions were the engineers for the Down To Earth Roundhouse that is our venue for the weekend. Their tag team talk is entitled : ‘Structural considerations in straw-bale construction including foundations,…
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The Big Straw Bale Gathering Speakers List is out!
The majority of our speakers for the Big Straw Bale Gathering are below. We still have a few special guests in the pipeline which will be announced as they are confirmed. As you can see we have a broad spectrum of speakers lined up, speaking on a wide range of topics. Get your tickets now…
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Paul Jennings is speaking at the Big Straw Bale Gathering
Name: Paul Jennings Organisation: Criafolen Permaculture Lecture title: Permaculture Design for Builders Brief description: Permaculture design offers a whole site and beyond basis for builders looking to fit their projects sensitively and sustainably into the landscape and community. This lecture will provide a brief look at the application of Permaculture to building, site and settlement…
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Next Members’ meeting: Friday 23rd March
Our next members’ meeting is: Friday 23rd March, 11am-3pm Venue: The Briar Rose (in the upstairs meeting room) Address: Bennetts Hill, Birmingham B2 5RE. New members are welcome & can join on the day: Join SBUK
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Barbara Jones will be speaking at the Big Straw Bale Gathering
Very excited to announce that Barbara Jones of Straw Works and The School of Natural Building will be sharing her wealth of knowledge with you all at the Big Straw Bale Gathering. Speaker Name: Barbara Jones. Organisation: Straw Works and The School of Natural Building. Talk Title: Straw Trek – The Next Generation. Talk description: A journey through…
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Judith Thornton from Aberystwyth University is giving a talk at the BSBG
How into bales is Judith? Well, she just bought her own baling machine to play with! Name: Judith Thornton Company: Aberystwyth University Talk title: What’s in a bale and why it matters Talk description: General discussion on what affects straw bale degradability, alternative straws, potential for bale redesign. Judith’s Bio: Judith is Low Carbon Manager in the BEACON project at…
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Craig White is giving a talk at The Big Straw Bale Gathering
We are delighted to add Craig White to the lineup for The Big Straw Bale Gathering. Name: Craig White Company: White Design, ModCell Talk Title: We Can Make – Affordable Homes Renewable Materials Talk description: In a world where an affordable home is the oxymoron of our time and the property ladder has no rungs,…
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Peter Schubert [RIBA] is giving a talk at the Big Straw Bale Gathering
![Peter Schubert [RIBA] is giving a talk at the Big Straw Bale Gathering](http://old.strawbalebuildinguk.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/peter-schubert-foto.1024x1024-e1520074901290.jpg)
Next up we have Peter Schubert who will be joining us from Vienna. Buy your tickets here Name: Peter Schubert Company: Capital [ A ] architects, Vienna Talk Title: Straw and other regrowing building materials for multi storey housing constructions. Talk description: Structural possibilities, thermal insulation potential & fire safety of different construction methods using timber, straw,…
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Dr Chris Vernon is giving a talk at the Big Straw Bale Gathering!
And we are off! We are very excited to announce Dr Chris Vernon will be giving a talk at The Big Straw Bale Gathering 2018. Chris and his wife Erica have recently built a two story, roundwood timber frame, straw bale house on their One Planet Development smallholding in Carmarthenshire. This project was motivated by…
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#UPSTRAW meets #AUBHUMAN
Next week for @inspiredAUB one of our founding members, Phil Christopher, will be presenting a talk for ‘AUB Human’, in Bournemouth, Tuesday 6th March 2018. And if that isn’t enough ‘Huff and Puff Construction‘ are building a straw venue for the ‘Pop up Cinema’ too! The day comprises of symposiums, talks and workshops ‘created to…
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The Big Straw Bale Gathering – Last few days of early bird tickets and lineup announcements
On Thursday the 1st of March we will start releasing our lineup of speakers for the 2018 Big Straw Bale Gathering. Early bird ticket prices will end at 23:00 Wednesday the 28th of February. We have also updated the event info, so please check out the Big Straw Bale Gathering event page
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View from the hill – reflections on building the world’s first Miscanthus bale house.
Straw bale building in the UK has a history of artful and inspired design and has resulted in a small number of iconic buildings, and a much larger number of elegant and understated ones. However, whilst the built form and structural details vary, relatively little attention has been paid to what type of straw is…
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New year’s day fire at lammas
All of us at SBUK were devastated to hear of the fire that destroyed Simon and Jasmine Dale’s house in the Lammas Eco village on new years day. The home was an inspirational house, being built for very little money and a lot of hard work from Simon and a whole league of volunteers. The…
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Big Straw Bale Gathering – Early Bird Tickets Now on Sale!
We are very pleased to announce the early bird tickets for The Big Straw Bale Gathering 2018 are on sale now. Get them early to take advantage of this discount price. [ecwid widgets=”productbrowser search categories minicart” default_category_id=”27027404″ default_product_id=”0″ minicart_layout=”MiniAttachToProductBrowser”] SBUK Presents: The Big Straw Bale Gathering 2018 Theme: Sowing the inspiration, growing the…
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Our aim – To promote straw bale building and best practice within the sector
Our aim – To promote straw bale building and best practice within the sector
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The Big Straw Bale Gathering 2018
SBUK Presents: The Big Straw Bale Gathering 2018 Theme: Sowing the inspiration, growing the industry & harvesting the knowledge About Speakers Workshops Running order Location Accomodation Food Excursions & Other Activities Tickets Event Sponsorship About The Big Straw Bale Gathering Down To Earth – Swansea, UK – 10th,11th & 12th of August 2018: SBUK are…
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SBUK Members meeting Friday 22nd September 2017 #strawbale #upstraw #construction
SBUK Members meeting Date: Friday 22nd September 2017, 11am – 2pm Venue: St Luke’s Church, Great Colmore Street, Lee Bank, B15 2AT http://www.st-lukes-church-centre.org.uk/about-us/ SBUK Members meeting Friday 22nd September 2017 AGENDA
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You are brilliant @ModCellTweet for flagging this
@ApprovedInsp @ArchitectsJrnal #strawbuilding #naturalbuild #earthbuilding
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@EcoBuild_Now : Whose Regeneration Is It Anyway?
The complexities of housing on a large scale need to be redressed especially when the debate on inclusivity and construction materials are taken in wholeheartedly. Read our take of this discussion at EcoBuild 2017 and come and visit us at Stand F209 over the 3 days with Hartwyn – Natural Building, Straw Build, Straw Works, EBUKi,…
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ASBP HEALTHY BUILDINGS CONFERENCE & EXPO 2017
Construction conferences in today’s economic climate are important not just in sorting the wheat from the chaff but in opening up the conversation. One of our founder members asked the question about challenging the perception that the mainstream has about ‘natural building’: why not have “Lectures challenging the industry’s approach to embodied carbon, circular economy,…
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ASBP Healthy Buildings Conference and Expo 2017. Early Birds last call!
A golden opportunity is available in constructing buildings, the healthy way. Whether your interest is in the performance, sustainability, or functionality of a building there is something here for everyone. Many aspects will be covered under one roof and this conference appeals to the architects, self-builders, public building designers or those wanting to understand the…
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Founder Memberships
I would like to invite you to make an initial payment to become a founder member of SBUK. The cost of a founder membership has been set at £50 per individual. In return for this payment you will receive your first year’s membership of SBUK and also be listed in perpetuity on the SBUK website…
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Add your skills to the ESBA database
We started the Skills-Database on ESBA website. If you are interested to offer your work also in other countries, please fill out this form (its free). Skills (natural building) Have a look here what others offer: http://www.strawbuilding.eu/category/skills/
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ESBA European Straw Building Association founded in Venice
ESBA European Straw Building Association – General Assembly in Venice
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SBUK – Meeting #3 – Jan 14th – Birmingham
Our next meeting will be at: The Briar Rose Hotel, Bennetts Hill, Birmingham, B2 5RE On January 14th 2016. 11am – 3pm. Full agenda will be published closer to the event, if you would like to add any items please use the contact page.
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SBUK – A new voice for strawbale building in the UK
http://www.lowimpact.org/sbuk-a-new-voice-for-strawbale-building-in-the-uk/
