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Maria Hoeve Hoenderloo, Gelderland |
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| At the Maria Hoeve in Hoenderloo, a village in the beautiful landscape of the Veluwe, the Dutch straw bale building history began in 1998 after a year of preparation of the building itself. | |||
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| The artist group by the name of RAM
Strobouw named themselves after the initials of their first names with the
activity they started to undertake professionally "strobouw"
Dutch for straw bale building. They had experience from workshops about
straw bale building and felt confident with the skills they had required
at the art school and in their work. For instance Rob Kaptein, taking the lead in
the RAM name, was experienced in working with earth as a building
material. Plastering a straw build wall with earth plaster proves
one of the essential skills to finish a straw build wall. Rob demonstrating the molding of a bale with a chain saw. |
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| Easy as it seems the complex
reality of this building technique was mastered by the RAM builders and
the structure as such build by group effort with a minimal budget.
For the actual straw bale building a group of friends was selected to help
and learn the trade. The foundation of the walls were covered by waterproof foil and iron rods came trough this as reinforcement for tying the walls into the foundation. To improve the intricate placing of the bales the RAM team had invented and made a sharp ending for easier penetration. Measuring by hand and ruler for the placing of the
first row of bales. |
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Antal and Marian the
other RAM members after placing the first layers of bales. Marian screws
a connecting bolt on the rod to extend it with another meter.
Marian showing strength and elegance to line out the first layers of the wall. |
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In straw bale building
a variety of techniques have developed from the so called Nebraska style
to the modified post-and-beam system. In the project of the Maria Hoeve a
structure of a former barn was more or less replaced by completely new
frame that supports the roof and attic space. The straw bale walls are there for non load bearing. The height of the walls are impressive in it self and the boards that stabilize the walls are repeated at a higher level. Wall plates on top of walls and frames around doors and windows form typical elements of straw bale building. This plates are placed half wall height. Working in small groups makes working easy and pleasant. |
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