Straw Bale Eco Home, in Pembrokeshire

"Consider another skin surrounding you. One that, like your own skin, breathes. It works well with moisture; without letting it seep inwards. Its surface holds the moisture until it can then release it outwards. It could keep you warm when the air is cold outside and yet also keep you cool, when the air is warm."

The inspiration behind developing this wonderful eco friendly home, came from Rachel Shiamhs desire for a new way of life, to strive to learn from the land and surrounding natural environment. To be able to step back in time and rediscover a way of life that advocates the harmony of sustainable living that exists side by side nature.

straw bale house Pembrokeshire

Rachel’s woodland eco friendly home is a perfect example of how to build an innovative
and beautiful, sustainable home with minimal impact on the surrounding environment. What makes this straw bale home, built on two levels, eco-home, even more impressive, is that it has been created without the use of a timber frame. It has been designed in such a way that straw bale walls are load-bearing. This method of building straw bale housing is called "the Nebraskan" or "load bearing design". It involves building the straw bale walls in much the same way as you would build a wall out of bricks, the use of concrete and cement. The roof is then attached to a plate on top of these walls.

Made from locally sourced material, using solar energy and wind power, this sustainable home fits perfectly with its natural surroundings. It even has its own composting system (Aquatron system)

Heat is also generated through a bio mass heater fueled by coppiced wood from the surrounding woodland. A rainwater harvesting system is also in place.

Recently a wind turbine was fitted to Rachel’s eco friendly house which now means it is only powered by the Wind power and the Suns energy, improving its energy efficiency still further.

For more details about the story behind this wonderful straw bale house visit -

www.gwaliaessences.co.uk/story.htm

You can also find a range of courses and open days on offer by Rachel and the QUIET EARTH PROJECT PROGRAM for 2008 -

www.gwaliaessences.co.uk/courses.htm

You can also find an interview with Rachel Shiamhs on the followig page,

Interview with Rachel Shiamhs

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Posted By maria

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im in love with our house :) x this is just wot i would love to build for my home with my children in cornwall but its so hard to get planing etc for such a build :( hear , would love to meet people how have similer build etc please contact me greengodess5069@gmail.com would love to talk maria