Huff, puff... You'll be blown away by these straw houses

Nick Marer and his team at The Little Pig Building Company have been involved in the construction of numerous straw bale buildings as well as conventional construction since 1992.

The advantages of building in straw are the insulation (between R7 & R10) Wall batts being R 2.2. Straw works on the principal of thermals retention and offers a great number of design options including curved or square wall into the window (see photo above), niches that can be plaster into the walls, windows that don’t go to the floor can become window seats etc. All creating a character home at an affordable price.

The cost of a straw house is approximately 10 % more that standard timber frame construction. The straw that is used is a waste product from farming and would normally be burnt.

Nick has just completed a straw bale home for Graham and Briony Thorne and a home for his family, which is used also as a show home in Nelson. Both homes use a combination of recycled material including telegraph poles, a huge front door hand made with telephone pole cross arm’s, an adobe wall around the fire place which is an amazing feature having an energy all of its own as it stores heat put out from the fire to slowly release once the fire goes out.

Changes to the building code have meant some changes for straw bale construction. The Little Pig Building Company has just build two new homes under the new code both gaining their code of compliance certificates.

Nick has a great wealth of knowledge on straw building and is available to build new homes from start to finish or in a consultancy role. Nick believes in keeping his clients involved in the building process and helping them make informed decisions through open communication.