The BaleHaus prototype house has been built as part of a Technology Strategy Board (TSB) funded research project by ModCell, with a number of industry partners -‐ White Design and Integral Engineering Design, and research partners, Craig White from the University of the West of England, Dr. Katharine Beadle and Prof. Pete Walker from the BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials (CICM). Craig is the founding Director of both White Design and ModCell and inventor of the system. The research builds on work funded by the DTi that confirmed the potential for mainstreaming the use of straw bale construction through prefabrication. The BaleHaus is a prototype that demonstrates the viability of whole system design for housing using the ModCell System of wall, roof floors and partitions. To date, research has been limited to the thermal performance of straw and not its application in high-value engineered construction systems that are readily adoptable by designers and contractors.
Author: Craig White
