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Cob , Straw Bale and Hybrid Houses in Cantabria

21/11/2017

16 Comments

 
​The great thing about being on the road is that you finally have the chance to visit other natural homes. Many of them are inspirational. All of them teach me something new. 
Picture
The hybrid straw bale and cob house.
​Abrazo House is a cob/strawbale hybrid tucked away in the sweeping Cantabrian hills. It’s a perfect example of a well-built natural ecohome, with a green roof that flourishes in the wet climate, earth plaster created from clay on site, and a lime wash finish to protect it. The lower floor is made from insulated cob, and the upper floor is straw bale. It is, as you can see, quite beautiful.  At 200 square metres, Abrazo House is the largest self-built natural home I’ve seen so far.
 
Robert, the creator of Abrazo House, has executed a number of impressive eco building projects to date. There is a cob cabin on the land too, and just up the road he has two more fabulous straw bale houses on the go which will ultimately be sold. Indeed this is something of a natural house empire with a view to breathing life and community back into an abandoned Spanish village. 
Picture
The cob cabin.
​But here’s a little secret just to encourage folk. Something went awry in the build of Abrazo House (which if builders are honest is par for the course in construction). And what do you know? I have something interesting to write about, and we all learn something new.
 
So what went wrong?
Originally Abrazo house was planned to be completely straw bale. Because the climate was wet and the build took a long time (four years in total), by the time the second floor was reached, the first floor had begun to rot. I don’t want to imagine how Robert and co. felt the moment they realised this. Personally, I would have lay down in the dirt, beat my chest and howled for a day. But Robert seems a mellow chap, so he probably flipped a little more quietly than I would have. And anyway there is always a solution. Many times it becomes the most outstanding feature of the house.
 
How did he solve the problem?
The issue was resolved by jacking up the first floor, removing the bales and then creating cob walls in their place. The cob easily supports the bales (which are far lighter than the solid earthern walls).  Thus this has become a rather magnificent example of a hybrid natural home.
 
How did he increase the insulation value of the cob?
The reason Robert chose straw bale in the first place was that he was concerned about insulating such a large house.  Straw bale has a high insulation value. Cob, on the other hand, has a high thermal mass value but is not particularly efficient for insulation (you can read more about that here). To mitigate this issue, Robert replaced some of the sand in the cob mix with sawdust. The result is a fabulous, attractive and warm family home.
Picture
Inside the cob cabin.
​Is this house built to code?
For those ever hungry for information on legalities: This is a natural home built to code. Yup, fully legit (as we say back in Essex). To do this in Spain you must buy an appropriate piece of land (edificable), speak to officials in your local government, get an architect to draw up an official plan, and then have it signed off by various titled pen-wielders in various offices. Obviously, each time you take any of these steps you will need to inhale and exhale deeply, and spend some money too. Patience and persistence are the two characteristics you must cultivate when embarking on a self build project anywhere. 
Picture
One of the extra two straw bale houses Robert is going to sell.
Something else I learned:
Robert was mixing his earth plaster using an unconventional method (at least I’d never seen it done this way before). We laid a large layer of gravelly sand directly on the ground, then added a layer of clay, and finally some straw. Then the ingredients were mixed using a rotavator. Unfortunately I have no photographic evidence of me doing this, which is tragic because it was truly a battle between woman and machine:) To use this method successfully you need a fair bit of experience with earth plaster first, so you know exactly how the mixture should look. It’s quite hard to measure the quantities of ingredients carefully when they are spread on the floor. But because Robert knows his dirt and his climate well, he knows from sight and can assess the state of the mixture just by handling it.
 
If you want to read more about Abrazo House, or would like to help volunteer, go to www.abrazohouse.org.
Picture
The gravel and clay laid out ready to mix with the rotavator.
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16 Comments
Philippa Rees
24/11/2017 03:18:27 pm

Great Atulya, It seems to me that the greatest 'ingredients' in these constructions is patience, fortitude and dogged self-belief.

All the others can be learnt!

But they are so naturally aesthetic!

Reply
Atulya
24/11/2017 05:40:59 pm

You've hit the nail on the head Philippa. Everything can be learned. I think even self-belief and the will to persist :) Children all have it in the beginning, before they're thrown in the snake pit of competitive education.

Reply
Ramona Katherine Ray
24/11/2017 08:15:08 pm

I soooo want to do this but have no one to help me and am 66yr old and thats not the issue its brain damage from when I was 33 and in a headon car accident. I have just met one young lady who says she will help me with the bastago (palm stems). I have built with palm trunks, thatch and rock for roof and walls, I have clay on site, I even have straw naturally growing, what I dont have is ENERGY errrr to do this or help. And like you no dinero, its nice here this time of year, people from all over the world come here to escape the cold weather, sooooo jajaja if your getting cooold this is the place to be in the winter, free room and board here in Todos Santos BCS Mexico.Give me a holler jejeje No need to hablar Español, the gal who would help is here for 6 months she is getting room and board helping a friend of mine with MS. She is young and strong! 24 and likes to draw, did welding etc.I am the weak one. errr errr errr (used to go go go)
un abrazo Ramona Ray

Reply
Margaret Stewart
28/11/2017 05:05:20 pm

A comment for Ramona Katherine Ray. I am a senior 66 years old next month, former cancer patient in 2006. I read Atulya's story in 2016 and was inspired to build my own earthbag house on Prince Edward Island, Canada. I retired in December, 2016 and have very little pension. I searched online for tiny houses and alternative housing and fell in love with Atulya's story. My nephew who is 51, suffered a severe brain injury from a 50 stair fall, and was in the hospital for 5 years. We were a domitable team :) ;but we persevered and managed to get a 20 ft diameter earthbag house built. We ran out of time before the freeze hit to plaster so that is our job next year. I would say, our biggest obstacle in anything is ourselves. Good luck with your aspirations. You may see the progress on PEI Earthbag House if you want to view the end result todate.

Reply
Atulya
29/11/2017 09:05:30 pm

Wow Margaret! What an amazing story. It gave me goosebumps. I take my hat off to you and your nephew. Do send me photos some time.

Ed Hoffman
25/11/2017 05:30:28 am

What is a rotavator ?

Reply
Ed
25/11/2017 05:35:58 am

I'm sorry, I looked on their website, it is a rototiller in the USA.

Reply
Atulya
25/11/2017 12:32:32 pm

Rototiller eh? Another thing learned:)

Robert Alcock link
28/11/2017 06:06:24 pm

Hello Atulya

Good to read your reflections on your visit to Abrazo House! As I expect you are aware, a project like this can never be a solo effort, and I certainly wouldn't call myself its sole creator. None of this would have been possible without my partner and co-creator, Almudena, not to mention the many hundreds of friends, family and volunteers who have helped out, and of course, the unfailing wisdom and energy of Mother Earth.

We've never made a secret of the setbacks and errors we made in building Abrazo House -- this is an educational project above all, and you can't learn anything without making mistakes.

To learn more details about the project you can visit our website abrazohouse.org or read the book we put together to celebrate its tenth anniversary, at https://is.gd/aBQoCl

Best of luck on your own journey, looking forward to hearing more about your future projects.

Reply
Atulya
29/11/2017 09:03:29 pm

Yes, definitely no house is ever built alone:) Apologies to Almudena, and all the other unsung heroes and heroines. Thanks for adding your comments Robert, and I completely agree with you re: mistakes. Mine are all proudly documented too, because in my opinion if you haven't made a mistake, you haven't built anything. You've just sat at a computer and typed;))

Reply
Ify
29/11/2017 09:27:37 am

This article has inspired me so much. In fact every eco grand design I've read about or I've watched or seen inspires me. I have land in Portugal and all I'm waiting for is the money. But before that happens, I want to get knee deep in mud and get my hands dirty. I currently live in Galicia but I would like to travel around more during the summer and help others build while I learn myself. Would you recommend any places in Spain or Portugal about projects?

Reply
Atulya
29/11/2017 09:08:25 pm

I'd post something in the Pure Portugal Facebook group. Ask if anyone is running a mud building course. https://www.facebook.com/groups/pureportugalgoodlife/

Reply
Ugen doma
12/12/2017 01:37:35 pm

Hi atulya
Thanks for sharing about Abrazo house very interesting. In 2015 i built myself a earthbag home but I had to do cement plaster instead of earth plaster as I was not confident with earth/lime plastering technique. Thanks for all the information you share 👍

HomeCrux link
21/2/2018 08:01:23 am

Hi Atulya, Congratulations! Your <a href="http://www.homecrux.com/2018/02/17/93879/ten-best-cob-houses-and-the-benefits-of-building-one.html">cob house</a> is really very amazing. It would be great if you would give us permission to write about you and your house on our magazine that allows readers to discover and follow the most engaging and creative news from the world of design, home décor, architecture and technology.

Reply
Robert link
21/2/2018 08:43:13 am

If you mean Abrazo House, then absolutely, it's fine for you to write about us on your blog. You can get in touch via our website abrazohouse.org.

Reply
Arkansas Asians link
12/2/2021 04:02:36 am

Interesting thoughts

Reply



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  • Home
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