STRAW IN THE RAW - Newsletter!
ISSUE #5
In this Issue:
-
Straw Built Showhome - Nearing Completion!
(Loads of pics of Ruatuna, our Show-home - showing the
step-by-step construction process)
- Straw Bale Open Day - Te Puke (Get up-close and personal
with a Naked Straw Bale Home.
Book your spot now!)
- Homeshow Roadshow!(Spreading
the Straw Bale Word across the Country!)
- Latest
Project News
(Get up-to-date
with all our project's latest design & construction pics
and news. A must view!)
Please also feel free to view previous issues
of the newsletter (if maybe you've missed them :-)
If you are viewing
this newsletter for the first time, you may want to Subscribe
to this Newsletter, so as to receive future issues :-)
Straw Built Showhome - Nearing Completion!
Ruatuna, our Straw Built Show home and Office, is nearing completion!
Since the last newsletter
we sent out, we have:
- Plastered the house inside and out using our ever efficient plaster
pump.
- Taken down the GIANT 'protecting' canopy from the site.
- Completed all the necessary framing, for internal walls as well as plumbing
& electrical wiring etc.
We are now probably 2-3 weeks away from being complete! Although 'finishing'
always takes longer than expected - especially when you are your own client!
As always - let's let the pics do the talking!
Plaster being pumped onto the 'finished and detailed'
straw walls. With this pumping method, we plastered
the outside (1st coat) of Ruatuna in a day!
We get asked a lot about how the plaster process works,
so thought this close-up would help explain it. The plaster basically
gets 'squirted' onto the walls ........
...... and then trowelled finished to create a rough 'scratch'
coat finish (with good adhesion for the 2nd coat of plaster)
Second coat of plaster is applied, and then lovingly :-)
'sponge-finished', to create ......
... a smooth fantastic finish. Which can then be painted
(using only natural bio-paints of course!) or if need-be
finished witha final thin pigmented coat of plaster.
We are probably going to paint Ruatuna.
1st coat of internal plaster is applied the day after the
1st coat of external plaster using the same pumping
method. The 40m long feeder pipe makes access to
any portion of a project's interior - REALLY easy!
1st coat of plaster inside is complete. Note the 'masking'
stays in place until the 2nd coat is applied to ensure
all joinery and internal finishes/ frames remain clean.
Photo showing the finished plaster - after 2nd coat.
We are going to paint the internal walls, and stain
the concrete floor for a natural low maintenance finish.
Shelter canopy was taken down only once the 2nd coat
of plaster was applied to the exterior.
Off the plastic comes. We didnt lose a single day to
bad weather! We calculated that there would have
been over 20 days lost due to bad weather - in the
time that the canopy was up!
Internal framing and electrical wiring going in.
Looking good!
With
Ruatuna nearing completion, and the end of the year nearly upon us, this
is a perfect time to make a booking to come and stay at Ruatuna in the
New Year.
You'll get the chance to experience a straw built home's unique quality
for yourself, and also to enjoy the beautiful Eastern Bay surroundings.
To
make your booking - contact
Frances now!
She'll give you all the information you need about Ruatuna's accommodation,
rates and availability.
Straw
Bale Open Day at Te Puke
We
are having an 'Open Day' for people interested in visiting a 'Naked' Straw
Bale Home - (i.e. pre-plaster:-).
This will take place at Kevin & Anne's project near Te Puke
on the 5th of November (a Saturday), and will start at
10.00am. We plan the open day to last +-
3 hours, and entry will be $20 (per adult), a portion
of which will be donated to a local community project.
The day will be fairly informal - with a short presentation, a question
and answer session, and the chance to get up and close with some 'naked'
straw! Morning tea and a finger lunch will also be included.
Framing up, roof on, ready for straw infill.
Straw
infill.
Straw infill continuing.
Straw detailing beginning on the interior.
So, if you are interested in attending the open day, please contact
Bryce Stevens NOW, and book your spot - there are only limited
spaces available !
Please
email him on:
bryce@sustainable-structures.com
OR
Call him on 0800 787 272 (0800 STRAW BUILT)
Homeshow
Roadshow
Over the last few months we have been on a bit of a Homeshow Roadshow.
This has involved us attending Homeshows in Tauranga, Whakatane, Auckland,
Hawkes Bay, Waikato ..... whew!
Tauranga
Auckland
Waikato
The response from people attending our display & stand, has been astoundingly
positive - although, there are always the standard jokes about the 3 Little
Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf! As well as the often repeated questions about
cost, durability and consent issues regarding straw bale construction.
(Which are all easily answered in our Frequently
Asked Question)
Over the combined 5 shows, we had over 1000 people enter our competition
to win two night's accommodation at our soon-to-be complete Showhome -
Ruatuna.
The lucky winners of the accommodation from the previous shows are:
- TAURANGA
- Rosalie & Philip
- WHAKATANE - Deborah & Haaka
- AUCKLAND - Murray & Deanne
- HAWKES BAY - Brigit & Jed
- WAIKATO - Barbara
Congratulations to all of them. We hope you enjoy your stay at Ruatuna
in the New Year :-)
We're at it again the weekend of the 28th of Oct in Rotorua.
So if you are in the area, come and visit us at the HomeShow in
Rotorua, and enter our competition. You never know - you may
be next!
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Latest Project News
As always there is a fair amount happening, both in and outside of the
office. Let's start by seeing what the guys at our sister company - Straw
Built Homes - have been up to on site:
- Construction of John and Barb's Hamilton home is proceding really well.
The steel portal frame was first erected to provide support and to act
as profiles for the undulating roof shape. All the framing is now complete,
and roofing will begin shortly! With the unique roof form, there's been
a fair amount of local interest in the project. We are planning another
Open Day, once the straw bale infill has begun. Watch this space! :-)
Curved steel U-Beam frames getting craned into place.
Steel frame in place. Ready for roof and floor framing.
Rafters getting fixed in place - all 754 of them!
View from mezzanine.
Catching up with Dave (the builder) on site!
Roof form taking shape. Bermed embankments will
'tie' the roof in with the landscape.
Purlins in place.
Clerestorey and framing on North facade.
- Construction on Joanna's straw-bale alteration near Rotorua is also
progressing really well. Originally, an existing farm building, it has
been retro-fitted with straw. Grant, Phil and Hori, the guys from Straw
Built Homes, have done a fantastic job with placing, detailing and
plastering the straw!
Pre-straw.
Straw infill complete.
Grant - detailing the straw.
Straw detailing complete inside.
Straw - ready for plaster.
Grant and Hori beginning plastering.
- Another smallish straw bale project in Te Awamutu is underway. The local
builder, Rod, is just completing foundations, and excited about the prospect
of completing his first Straw Built project (with a little help and assistance
from us, and the Straw Built Homes guys!)
- Design in the office of a European styled 'Chateau'
for some clients in the Waikato is coming along nicely.
It includes a 'battered' (i.e the straw walls will slope) feature tower,
drive-through garage, sunken forecourt retained by gabion walls, as well
as a number of other pretty cool design features. Here's a sneak preview!
- Design of another large project, again for some clients in the Waikato,
is in the early stages. It includes a home, office, as well as a warehouse.
It will show-case not only straw's unique thermal and aesthetic qualities,
but also it's fantastic acoustic properties!
- We are also busy developing a number of design concepts for clients
all across the North Island. It's a great opportunity to get ideas for
a potential building project down on paper, so if you have anything in
mind, it might be well worth chatting
to Bryce. He can explain exactly what's involved!
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