PROJECT SUMMARY
We were commissioned for the structural design of this straw house to be built in the province of Verona.
This is a single-story house of approximately 235 sqm, featuring a single south-facing sloped roof with a length of 8.8 m.
The building is characterized by three large 4.2-meter windows in succession, forming the corner of the building.
This creates a very pronounced structural irregularity in the floor plan, which required the implementation of high-performance bracing.
WOOD-STRAW STRUCTURAL MODULES
The walls were installed on a larch curb, which in turn was placed on a reinforced concrete raised wall. The load-bearing walls are made of full-height modules approximately 1.8 m wide, consisting of a wooden frame inside which the straw was pressed using a hydraulic jack.
Resistance to horizontal seismic forces is guaranteed by metal bracing installed on most of the modules.
Two types of bracing were designed to better withstand the stresses—some of which are very high—due to the plan irregularity and the limited number of structural walls along the short side of the building.
The seismic design was carried out by incorporating the actual stiffness of the connections between the bracing and the wooden structure.
ROOF SLAB
The roof slab was designed using glulam beams.
Given the very large spaces and the 8.8 m beam length, we recommended using slender beams with a 16×40 cm section placed at 1.2 m intervals.
The roof insulation is made with 40 cm thick straw bales.
Above a ventilation chamber, an additional layer of boarding is planned, followed by Riverclack-type metal roofing.
FINISHES
The walls arrived at the construction site pre-assembled and pre-plastered on the exterior side.
In this way, when working in winter, problems related to rain or low temperatures are avoided.
Only the space necessary for the appropriate on-site taping was left.
Subsequently, the exterior lime finishing plasters and interior clay-based plasters will be applied.
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