Drew Hubbell:San Diego,California

     Nestled at the foot of the San Ysidro Mountains in the BorregoSpringsDesertsits the Shimeall guest house—San Diego’s first permitted Straw Bale building.  AlthoughCalifornia state law now permits the use of straw bale construction, we found it was important to put together a source book for the building officials to help educate them and answer their concerns about a material and construction method they know very little about.  By educating the planning engineers prior to plan submittal, the review process was actually less involved than many conventionally framed structures we have worked on.

     The 500 square-foot plan for the guest house was developed from a series of site and zoning opportunities/  restrictions. The semi-circular design with central patio gives the structure a much larger appearance than one would imagine from the limited size. Views to the North, along with the need to minimize the intense summer heat of Borrego Springs, helped determine the northern orientation while progressively smaller windows from East to West help take advantage of passive solar gain during the winter months. One very rewarding aspect of this project was the weekend workshops in which volunteers joined together in a community-building experience to learn about Straw-Bale construction techniques and “raise” the walls.

     The owners, Clark and Eleanor Shimeall, have always been interested in education and exploring new ideas.Clarksays, “We have all been learning about the advantages of straw bale building along with the growing straw bale community emerging throughout the country.”   

     As the architect for this and other straw bale projects, I feel one benefit to using straw bale construction, in addition to the economic and environmental reasons, is the way the two foot thick walls add a sense of permanence and stability as well as a sculptural quality to the structure.

     Hubbell & Hubbell Artists and Architects currently has other straw bale projects on the drawing boards. For more information about the variety of work Hubbell & Hubbell is involved in, please visit our web site:  www.hubbellandhubbell.com. 

 

Article for The Last Straw –
International Journal of StrawBale and Natural Building