proyectos

SCL Straw-Bale House

Veneto

A 160 m² single-family house in Vicenza (Italy), designed by Jimmi Pianezzola Architetto and completed in 2016, considered the first house in the city built with straw bales. The project is reduced to two archetypal elements — a wall and a roof — that define the domestic space. The structure is timber in both the perimeter enclosure and the roof, and its frames are completely filled with straw bales to maximise insulation. The whole is clad inside and out with a 30 mm lime render finished with silicate paint, a solution that maintains the breathability of the entire wall and naturally regulates internal humidity. The design of the air flows and the good hygrothermal behaviour of the lime-rendered straw wall allow much of the conventional climate control installations to be dispensed with. The house exemplifies how straw construction, with minimal carbon footprint and renewable materials, can adopt a rigorous contemporary language.