Open Architecture Network

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
STRAW BALE CABINS and auxiliary buildings Parainen, Finland, 1997- The design is based on straw bales and recycled windows, sleeping space for four, and the possibility for simple cooking and a stay in the house. It is a natural aspect of straw-bale construction to minimize openings in the walls. The windows and doors of the house are placed as walls between the straw-bale walls which have no fenestration or openings. In order to minimize transport local materials are used as much as possible. The straw-bales are made in the fields of the local farm and dried during the winter in a nearby barn. The timber for the bearing wooden skeleton is from the local forests, the foundations are of unworked stone, and the recycled windows are from the old Littoinen broadcloth mill. The tar is made in a small tar-burning pit a kilometre from the site, and the plaster is made of local clay, sand, straw and cow dung. Three cottages and a servicebuilding are for the moment built and the design for the whole area with auxiliary buildings is on a project level.