Straw — Bale House — Hasandede

The first straw-bale building in Turkey was begun in mid summer 2000 when Harald Wedig led a Workshop in Hasandede 90 km southeast of Ankara. Nine architectural students from Gazi University, two architects and three volunteers participated. Demet Irkli Eryildiz designed the project. The Hasandede Municipality supplied the land at the prominent site, and the Research Fund of Gazi University and Kirikkale branch of Chamber of Architects provided most of the building materials while the State Farm in Bala provided the straw — bales. The Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) — Europe paid for Harald Wedig’s training and travel costs.

The workshop aimed at building an earthquake-resistant and ecologically sound rural dwelling. As it well known, straw-bales have very high insulation value for winter and summer conditions. The wooden post — and — beam structure was chosen for earthquake considerations. The concrete slab, which is 10cm thick, was poured on top of the masonry foundation. Diagonal crossties of heavy wire were attached from the foundation to the upper frame of the roof structure.

A wooden trussed — roof system and light metal coverings were chosen for their earthquake resistance, durability and ability to harvest clean rainwater. Both foundation and roof were properly insulated against cold, humidity and vapor. Inner and outer surfaces of the straw-bale walls were plastered with local earth. The window and door
openings were designed mostly on the southern side to achieve more solar gain and wooden frames were chosen as natural building elements. The building will be offered to Hasandede Municipality as an ecological training center.