Many different concepts for a modular straw bale wall exists. The most popular is a take on the conventional straw bale method of using stucco as the surface of the wall. This method can be used with modular straw bale by framing the modular straw bale wall and then simply adding the stucco finish either after construction (keeps things lighter work with until the modular wall is installed), or before if equipment is available to put the walls into place.
An alternative modular concept is to simply use ply wood as the wall surface to enclose the bales. In this modular design the weight of the wall modules (depending on how big the module is) can be handled by a couple people working to assemble the walls on site. In this concept the walls would be assembled in place and then an additional facade could be added (such as board and batten).
The modular wall concept with ply wood can then also be used to create a floor and roofing system. See future posts for details on how this all can work.
Nice!
Building this modular straw bale wall at SunFest 2023 was a great way to learn how to build my own home. Thanks.
Great workshop.
I’ve heard about this before. Do the bales rot?