Eileen Sutherland discussed the UP Straw project at this event, as part of the project's work on Training of Construction Sector Professionals and Undergraduates.
In conjunction with the A+DS Materials Library at The Lighthouse, SEDA presents a night of talks and presentations, looking to introduce the wider Scottish architectural community to the broad range of applications and benefits offered by this ecological building block: the humble straw-bale. As much craft as construction technique, it enables the creation of highly performing, minimal-impact, healthy buildings from a rapidly renewable resource - agricultural "waste" - which our country already possesses in great abundance.
In order to construct holistically sustainable built environments, we must actively consider exactly what we are putting into our buildings and what we look to repair them with; for the benefit of our planet and for people living within these buildings. This craft is incredibly rewarding to work with and allows the creation of beautiful, sustainable buildings. A healthier and more compassionate beauty, that goes far beyond aesthetics.
The event will present practitioners who have real practical knowledge of strawbale building, from whom you can hear about the current best practice and research, and ask directly about how straw bale can be used in reality. The speakers bring a wealth of knowledge from both England and Scotland, alongside the terrific resource of information in the Materials Library, on which there will be an introduction to their digital archives and how these will be made available for all to use as well as in the building.
Speakers:
Eileen Sutherland (The School of Natural Building)
Sam Foster (Sam Foster Architects)
Richard Atkins (Richard Atkins Architects)
Laura Hainey (A+DS: The Materials Library)