was no small task. The 1700 sq. ft. building was constructed as a complete timber frame before any bales were even touched. The massive 33' 6"x8" roof timbers were installed next. After the frame was built, we then started filling in the straw walls. We used wheat straw packed into 3 string bails weighing between 90-100 lbs. each. The bales were pinned together using bamboo rods every course.
Once the building was secure and the exterior door was installed, the wood stove went in. Since the bale walls are so insulating, one wood stove is enough to heat the entire studio. With the roof on and the building secured, we could start plastering the walls. Several coats of lime plaster were put on the exterior walls followed with lap siding. The interior walls were treated with either lime plaster or gypsum depending on the rooms use.
The living roof was achieved by using 2"x6" tongue and groove covered by a 1/2" layer of rigid insulation. The waterproof membrane was installed next followed by several hundred more bales of straw. Within the next few years, we will cover the straw with soil to promote further growth.
The were slightly different to employ due to the straw bale construction. As far as the design layout goes, Liquid Machine has a 25'x30' live room, 2 isolation rooms (one live and one dead), a 20'x30' control room, mud room, office and a bathroom.
Design characteristics were similar to a standard studio construction (optimum dimensions to reduce room modes, no parallel walls...) with one exception; The elimination of a double walled system for sound isolation purposes. When straw bales are used for interior walls, sound isolation levels are within an acceptable range.
Straw bales have a natural tendency to absorb sound. As such, the live room has lime plaster on the walls to give the room a natural stone reflecting surface. Since the lime plaster is only 1" thick, it allows bass frequencies to pass through and be absorbed by the straw. This gives the room a nice sound character with an average reverb time of 1.3ms. The inconsistencies of the straw bales enables the lime plaster to act as quite a good difuser as well.
This slideshow illustrates the construction of the studio. Please contact me if you have any question about the building process. I'd be happy to share my knowledge of straw bale building or timberframing with you.
Thanks to the many family and friends who helped out along the way. A special note of appreciation to: Caryl Gentile, Linda Barrows, Roger Brewer, Chris Cleary and Johnny Z. You're help and support was appreciated more than I could ever say! Thank You.
