Strawbale Home couple built after fire is bioclimatic marvel
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Published 2023-10-22
They used fire-resistive strawbale walls for their new studio and home, built next to the only structure (also made with straw bale) that survived the fire. Strawbale has a two-hour fire rating when clad in earthen plasters.
The studio's main facade includes both a masonry and a water Trombe wall for storing daytime heat for use overnight. The water wall uses an internal chamber filled with water that regulates the interior temperature: convection currents within the water help transfer heat through the entire thermal mass much quicker than only masonry.
When the Haggards bought the land in 1980 it was an abandoned trout farm, but they worked to restore the waterways to create natural swimming pools (filtered by plants) not just for people, but also for endangered species of turtles and frogs. A charming little piazza sheltered by trees and several ponds helps regulate the area's temperature and create a respite for them and the local fauna —students and researchers from Cal Poly come to the property to study the frog population.
—Ken & Polly Haggard: slosustainability.com/
—David Bainbridge (water wall): www.sustainabilityleader.org/
—Kenneth Haggard's bio: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Haggard
—Organic architecture: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_architecture
—Fractals in architecture: users.math.yale.edu/public_html/People/frame/Fract…
—Trombe wall definition: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trombe_wall
On *faircompanies: faircompanies.com/videos/all-burnt-down-they-built…
All Comments (21)
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Really FUN!!!! I was a student in the School of Architecture at Cal Poly when Ken Haggard was teaching there. He was a big influence on me and my whole class, along with George Hasslein, the founding Dean, a great guy, and the heart and soul of the school. Our motto was "Learn by doing". Everyone was assigned his own large cubical with large drafting board in a giant room -- it was always open 24/7. This was before PC's and CAD.. So we practically lived there doing our design projects. We learned by watching each other as well as from our professors. Teachers, including Ken, would wonder in and we would have great midnight bull sessions. Our school had I think 200 acres, called "Poly Canyon" where we built a bunch of experimental structures and buildings over the years. There were many interesting passive solar experiments, new materials experiments, construction technique experiments and so on. This house Ken built feels and seems to me like an extension of Poly Canyon, which is why I mentioned it. I will bet he had volunteers! Hi Ken! It was so fun to see Ken again and see what he has done here. I going back to watch it again. Thank you.
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I love these homes that have a unique shape or concept. These modern white boxes are getting boring quick, but these stand out. I hope to design stuff like this ♥
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I've lived 30 minutes from these folks for 30 years, and had no idea their homestead existed! I wonder if they ever do tours? They've learned so many important lessons and techniques over the years - I hope they are imparting their knowledge to the next generations of builders!
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Amazing to see this here! Apart from how amazing their home is, Ken and Polly are also two of the absolute loveliest people in the known universe. (I've counted them as friends and mentors since about 1990). So glad to see their accomplishments getting more recognition.
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Love your channel. Have been following you for a long time and just wanted to comment. I'm grateful for your content and the unique forward-thinking people you shine a spotlight on.
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Fractal architecture. That's what I need to study to build a dome home. Thinking outside of the box needs education and inspiration.
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What an inspiring, peaceful and lovely place. 🥰👍🏡
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What a wonderful couple and a wonderful place!
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What a beautiful, Oasis. There is hope for the future of ecovillage. I also love how nature reclaims her land.
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Kirsten my darling you never disappoint! And thank you also to this beautiful couple for sharing their story and their space.
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What a beautiful home. I like the philosophy of non-uniformity and that they reusued the burnt trees. So many people shun wood after a fire. Great people too 😊. Californian's always seem so nice.
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Really beautiful house!!!!
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Fantástic house, is one dream 🎉
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oh beautiful. You can feel the pain in their voices when they talk about what the fire took, but they've built such wonderful things from it all.
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Kirsten, thank you for finding them as it answers my question about strawbale rebuilding..would love to see Paradise come back with strawbales . I cannot build a square with 4 equal boards and love curves so their home makes me smile. Sadly too old now to start from scratch and do what I wanted 35 yrs ago.
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Oh fun. I live almost exactly 10 miles south west of them. Nice to see you guys in my neighborhood.
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Blessed elders sharing their wisdom. Thank for sharing this with us.
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Love this straw bale home and nature setting.
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Love the steel roof😊
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Unquestionably my dreamjob you two got! Your videos are stunningly visual and the editing is perhaps perfect for these house showcases - which in a way feel like you are meeting and talking to the homeowner yourself. Keep on making them, cannot wait for the next :)
