Earth Hands in Poland near Warsaw
By Paulina Wojciechowska for 11,000 GBP
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This house was built by local people and volunteers. It is a load bearing straw bale house with an additional roofed area, structurally separate from the main house. The straw bale walls sit on earthbag foundations, and are plastered with an earthen plaster. Inside the floor is an earthen floor. The roof is a living roof made using straw bales, which will eventually decompose as the roof grows naturally. The house nestles amongst small farms and woodland. It was designed and built to melt in to its surroundings which it does well.

We used Earthbags as foundations for the house. The Earthbags were partly jute partly polypropylene sacks filled with damp sand, so sandbags really. We started the first course under the topsoil and built 600cm above ground level. Because the walls were going to be straw bale, we placed anchors for the wall straps, under the bags.

Paulina runs a trust called Earth Hands and Houses which gives courses in Poland. Here are their courses for 2011 .