The Gleanings, Dorset
Location: Milborne St Andrew, Dorset
Timeframe: Built in 2015
Construction Cost: £170,000
Our Involvement: Concept design, Planning, Building regulation and Construction drawings
Floor area: 82m2
Construction Method: 2 Storey Loadbearing Strawbale, Car tyre foundations
This is a 3 bedroomed house in a conservation area in Dorset. The senior planner was very opposed to giving us permission, calling our design ‘ugly’ and not in keeping with the rest of the area. However, after showing examples of other houses in the neighbourhood that had similarities, we did get planning approval. We think this has turned out to be a very lovely house!
It was based on our concept design for an affordable house, with tweaks. It achieves an airtightness of 4.45 air changes per hour with no costly sticky tapes, and many students of the School helped to build it. Straw Works was still undertaking construction at this time, to try and offer good site experience to our trainees in the SNaB. Straw Works carried out the specialist work of car tyre foundations, loadbearing straw walls, lime plastering outside and clay plastering inside. Another company carried out all the carpentry, with help from some of our contacts and associates. The client project managed a lot of it, and organised other trades, as well as working on site with us too.
