Kuba has just sent me these two stunning visualisations of the new building. The first, viewed from the South-East, shows the solar panels along the south roof, and the wonderful entrance staircase. The second, viewed from the North-West, shows the link to the church, with the kitchen nearest. Meanwhile Sally…
When we set out on this road to build Europe’s First Straw-Bale Church building – and possibly the largest straw-bale community building – it never really occurred to me what it meant to be a pioneer. I just thought, this is it, and we’re getting on with it. Now I know the truth! Hannah Jones…
It was always our plan to build with load-bearing straw walls. Our design team at Straw Works still believe it would be possible, but our Engineer at Renaissance has said “No.” Apparently, the 10m span across the hall would be too wide to support the upper floor and roof. Instead, Helen, our engineer has designed…
What a process! Getting planning permission was hard enough, but getting Faculty permission from the Diocese was tortuous! Nevertheless, we now have both – albeit with a number of conditions to fulfill on Lambeth’s side. These include providing a very thorough energy and heating strategy before any work is done above ground, and making sure…
Last week GEA came and dug four boreholes to check what our ground is like. As expected, there were traces of building rubble in the first metre, but below that was solid clay. The company are now doing a closer sample analysis back in the lab, and will also return to check the water levels…