描述

From the editorial DETAIL 11.2023

Straw, clay and other natural building materials

Wood construction has conquered the construction industry in many places at a rapid pace over the last ten years, and is now also established in major cities. And with the success of wooden construction, other natural materials are increasingly coming into focus.
For example, straw, cork or clay, which impress with their ecological balance: the
resources are often available locally or regionally, can be composted and returned to the material cycle at the end of their life cycle. Although the costs of building with natural materials are not necessarily cheap, their minimal gray energy, easy dismantling and low environmental damage speak for themselves.

Our current examples of the detailed use of natural building materials in this issue are complex:
using wood from nearby forests, clay from the region’s mines and acoustic panels made from cork, FAZ architectes are relying on a healthy indoor climate for the primary school in Riaz near Geneva.
In Nänikon near Zurich, Atelier Schmidt developed a straw bale settlement with 28 residential units, which are distributed over three rows of wooden frame houses. The 75 cm thick straw insulation layer is hidden behind the plaster surfaces; its heat transfer coefficient is comparable to that of rock wool. This is despite the fact that straw is an agricultural waste product. Bettina Rühm gives you an overview of the variety and properties of plant-based insulating materials, which also include hemp and reed, jute or cellulose, in her technology article (page 80).
Self-confident builders are also increasingly insisting on healthy and ecological materials, such as the Auenweide housing complex by Einzueins Architektur in Lower Austria.

Perhaps this is the beginning of a development that will prevail in the future.