We are incredibly passionate about eco-friendly, sustainable building methods at JME Consultants. Our Director (Jack Merrett) was fortunate enough to gain experience working on a number of load bearing straw bale during his employment at another consultancy. He was so enthused by this construction method that he completed his Masters in Structural Engineering dissertation on the subject.
Load bearing straw bale buildings utilise the inherent strength of the straw bale walls encased with a lime render to support the roof / floor structure above. The other method of building with straw bale is to create a load bearing timber frame infilled with straw bales to provide the acoustic and thermal insulation. At JME Consultants we were lucky enough to undertake the structural design and detailing of a load bearing straw bale office unit in Burniston. Upon completion of our design and detail, the client received initial sign off by Building Control which ensured that the building would be both insurable and therefore mortgageable too.
If you are thinking of using load bearing straw bale as part of your project and require the services of a structural engineer, we would love to hear from you.
