communitecture ARCHITECTURE | PLANNING | DESIGN
  • ON THE BOARDS
  • Updates
  • Projects
    • Commercial | Cultural >
      • Portland VOZ
      • The ReBuilding Center
      • Capaces Leadership Institute (PCUN)
      • Nella Mixed Use
      • Communitecture Headquarters
      • Bobwhite Theatre
      • Our Table Farmstand
      • Portland Community Media (PCM)
      • Hazel Dell Commons
      • Sisters of the Road
      • Mandal Temple
      • Pistils Nursery
      • Whistler Olympics
      • SE Portland Office Space
    • Multifamily | Cohousing >
      • Cully Green Cohousing
      • Mason St. Townhomes
      • Multifamily Adaptive Reuse
      • Pardee Commons
      • Sabin Green
      • Peninsula Park Commons
      • Nella Mixed Use
      • Ruth's Littlest Village
      • Woolsey Corner
      • Cully Grove
      • Next Step CoHousing Village
      • The Claire Apartments
      • Northwood Apartments
      • Norma Infill CoHousing
      • Bloom Family Village
    • ADU | Accessory Buildings >
      • Going Street Micro-Village
      • Clements ADU
      • Barta Urban Earthship
      • Sabin Green ADU
      • Raisman Basement Conversion
      • Busse ADU
      • Keating ADU / House Lift
      • Brick Accessory Building
      • Phillips Straw Bale ADU
      • Bender-Early Art Studio
      • Sellwood ADU
      • Endicott Playhouse
      • Buckholdt Art Studio
      • Bloom Car Barn
      • Skyberry Farm Studio
    • Villages | Masterplanning >
      • Bells Mountain Agrihoods
      • Mare Island Regional Resilience Resource
      • Residential Infill Projects
      • Veteran's Village
      • Bay City Masterplan
      • OUR EcoVillage
      • Atlan Permaculture Village
      • Dignity Village
      • Breitenbush Hot Springs Residential Village
      • Gira Sol Permaculture Village
      • Army Corps Sustainable Vision
      • Olinda Kaona
      • Big Bend Hot Springs Retreat
      • Trackers Earth
    • Social Justice >
      • Veteran's Village
      • Dignity Village
      • Street Roots Office
      • Kenton Women's Village
      • R2DToo
      • Tiny Home Code Innovations
      • The ReBuilding Center
      • Sisters of the Road
      • Capaces Leadership Institute (PCUN)
      • Various Houseless Villages
    • Residential >
      • Tabor Home Addition & Remodel
      • St. Johns Additions & Remodel
      • Hamilton Home Remodel
      • Runyard Home & ADU
      • Granger Low Energy Home
      • Semenza Victorian Addition
      • Bloom Main House
      • Magill Kitchen & Remodel
      • Rastogi Hillside Remodel
      • Maribona Addition
      • Saxena Victorian Remodel
    • Straw Bale | Natural Building >
      • Errol Heights Strawbale Home
      • Barta Urban Earthship
      • Molecule House
      • Ridgefield Straw Bale
      • Ferbel-Azcarate Addition
      • Foster-Platt Straw Bale
      • Baker McCracken Straw Bale
      • Reid Mosier Straw Bale
      • Carter Estacada Straw Bale
      • Phillips Straw Bale ADU
      • Lake County Straw Bale
    • Public Spaces >
      • Duncan Placemaking- Station St.
      • Duncan Placemaking- Whistler Street
      • Couch Park Time Sculpture
      • A Park for the Tsimshian Tribe
      • Bay City Masterplan
      • Mare Island Regional Resilience Resource
      • Hazel Dell Commons- Eco Park
      • Latourette Park
      • Selah Vista Public Park
      • Tillamook Downtown
      • Oceanside Vision
      • Redwood College
      • Center for Sustainability Education
    • Education | Institutional >
      • The University of The Trees (aka Moksha Hills)
      • Hoquarton Interpretive Museum
      • New Day School
      • Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS)
      • Swallowtail School
      • Center for Sustainability Education
      • Redwood College
      • Forest Grove Community School
      • The Earth School
    • Permaculture >
      • Hillsboro Farm & Buildings
      • Our Table COOP Farm
      • Acceptance: A Transformational Place
      • SE Portland Permaculture Village
      • SE Foster Permaculture Homestead
      • SE Portland Office Space
      • Audubon Society Bioswale
      • The Earth School
      • White House Food Forest
      • Atlan Permaculture Village
      • Tryon Life Community Farm
      • Gira Sol Permaculture Village
      • Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS)
      • Center for Sustainability Education
      • Soter Vineyards
      • Regenerative Design Institute (RDI)
      • Larned Family Permaculture Site
      • Block Repair Project
      • Big Bend Hot Springs Retreat
      • Kailash Ecovillage
      • Trackers Earth
      • Barbara Walker Memorial Park
    • Events | Installations >
      • Pickathon Music Festival
      • Nest Project, Earth Dance
      • Beloved Art & Music Festival
      • Convention Booth
      • The Labyrinth Project
  • About
  • Team
  • Press
  • Contact

The First Permitted Light Straw Clay Project in Portland

2/15/2016

0 Comments

 
Post by Taz Loomans:

Did you know that you can legally build a structure using light straw clay in Portland, a natural, non-toxic insulation material that has been used for centuries throughout the world? We are proud to say that we helped the first such structure be permitted in the city of Portland and it is now under construction.

[Aside: Light Straw Clay is a combination of straw and clay. The first known instance of this natural building material is from the 12th century in Germany.]

An environmentally-concerned client came to us last year and requested that we transform her garage into a bedroom with a greenhouse, except that it must be built with Light Straw Clay. Luckily, we knew from previous experience and from a process we helped pioneer, that there is a legal path to building with Light Straw Clay thanks to this recommendation of the Alternative Technology Advisory Committee.

Because we were converting an existing garage into this wonderfully insulated Light Straw Clay living space, we retained the existing studs and sheathing. Light Straw Clay is never used structurally, but rather as a "filling" in structural Larsen Trusses. Below is what the Larsen Truss looks like. It is two 2x4s connected with a cross member creating a hollow frame that can be filled in with Light Straw Clay. Light Straw Clay walls are a full foot thick!
Picture
It is important to keep the Light Straw Clay within a wall completely dry so that the clay doesn't get wet and therefore lose it's form and attract mold and pests. So it's important to add venting in the walls on both the top and the bottom and make sure there is air flow throughout the wall. These vent holes had to be coordinated with our structural engineer to make sure that we had enough shear reinforcement to meet seismic code requirements. You can see the vent holes below on this project:
Picture
Picture
This mesh helps keep the Light Straw Clay away from the plywood sheathing, creating an air-gap that is necessary for air-flow:
Picture
Because you want to keep Light Straw Clay walls dry and we live in a wet climate, it's important to have a deep overhang to keep the rain from directly hitting the wall:
Picture
The benefits of Light Straw Clay is that it is a natural, non-toxic and locally-source insulation material. And it is a material that can be installed with community help, because it is done by tamping down the clay and straw mixture in courses and with a little guidance is easy to learn. The one-foot-thick walls also make for very nice and deep window openings.

Our friend and natural building expert Wolfgang Kahler will be installing the Light Straw Clay. And the walls are slated to be finished with a plaster finish which will be done by our friend and plaster expert June Bonnheim. On the exterior, they will have 4" lap wood siding. 

If you're interested in building in Light Straw Clay, contact us and we'll help you design and permit your structure!
0 Comments

Right 2 Dream Too Proposed Site Plan

2/1/2016

0 Comments

 
As the City of Portland prepares to relocate the Right 2 Dream Too homeless community to inner Southeast Portland, the site plan is up for approval this week. This design is a product of a collaboration between Merrill Architecture, The City Repair Project and Communitecture, working hand-in-hand with members of R2DToo and City Council. Stay tuned here for further updates!
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

    communitecture

    We design beautiful and sustainable places that bring people together in community.  We are absolutely committed to sustainability, while respecting the needs and priorities of all the individuals, families, and communities with whom we work and play.

    RSS Feed

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Activism
    ADU
    Architects
    Architecture
    Art
    Building Science
    CoHousing
    Community
    Education
    Gardening
    Kids
    LEED
    Nature
    Passive House
    Permaculture
    Public Space
    Rainwater
    Sustainable Design
    Technology
    Tiny House
    Urban Design

    Archives

    August 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.