STRAW BALES FOR CONSTRUCTION
Our bales have been used in projects locally across South Australia and interstate to build new homes, extensions, commercial projects, tourist accommodation, recording studios, wineries and even retrofitting and wrapping an existing home.
We understand what it takes to make the straw bale to be used in the construction of your project. Every construction-grade straw bale we make is grown on our farm. We have full control over the production, from the time the seed is planted, to the crop reaped, the straw baled and delivered to your site. We can even tell you which paddock it was grown on.
WHY USE STRAW BALE IN CONSTRUCTION?
Straw has been used as a building material for centuries.
Straw bale construction rates highly for buildability for many reasons:
- Straw is a fast-growing and renewable agricultural by-product, plus any straw left over from building can be used as mulch.
- Straw bales are a non-toxic, natural and sustainable building material with very low embodied energy and carbon footprint.
- Partnered with good design, a straw bale house should not require any additional heating or cooling, saving you money in a rising energy market.
- Testing by the CSIRO on behalf of Ausbale and the South Australian fire authority in 2002 on three kinds of standard size rendered straw bales (earth; lime and sand; lime, sand, and cement) produced a two-hour fire rating. Samples were subjected to a simulated bushfire front with a maximum heat intensity of 29kW per square metre without igniting the sample wall sections.
- Straw bales have very high sound and energy insulation properties, and are five times more energy efficient than brick veneer, which contributes to the liveability of this kind of construction.
Our construction grade bales have been used to build homes, sheds, cool rooms, recording studios and garden walls. Building projects range from the Rawnsley Park Station Eco Villas, to the Christie Walk project in Adelaide, to Smallfry Wines in the Barossa.
17,584 bales sold
For buildings in Alice Springs to Aldinga
300 tonnes of carbon ‘locked up’
From July 2011 to September 2022
Additional Resources
Here are links to external sites with more information on sustainable design and straw bale construction:
Ausbale is a group of building industry professionals, researchers, owner builders, and interested people who share our knowledge and experiences.
Adelaide architects specialising in eco-friendly design
Building, consulting and teaching using strawbales as a building medium.
Dani & Sam’s Straw Bale Cottage
Read the article in The Owner Builder Magazine
