Straw Bale Cafe - Holme Lacy

This project comprises an extended 100 seat cafe, refurbished kitchen and cafe terrace for the Holme Lacy campus of the Herefordshire College of Technology. The extension was conceived as a College learning aid in low-impact environmental design , with the following features:

Prefabricated Construction: The building structure utilised ModCell® prefabricated straw bale Panels in order to minimise environmentally disruptive on-site works. It was assembled by a workforce comprising of 4 Nottingham University post-graduate students.  

Demountable: The building is designed to be dismantled at end of 15 year design life and most components re-used / re-cycled.  

Energy efficient: The building requires very little heating/cooling as the straw bale insulation is approximately 3x better than current regulations require. The building is naturally ventilated and makes use of natural daylight where possible. All artificial lights are on motion / daylight sensors.  

On-site energy generation: The building generates up to 6kW of green electricity from a combination of photovoltaic panels and wind turbine.  

Local Materials: The cedar cladding/boarding and organic straw insulation come from the College estate. Varieties for the green planted wall was sourced from local nurseries.

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Straw Bale Cafe shortlisted for RIBA Award - Click to read more

We are pleased to announce that the Straw Bale Cafe for Herefordshire College of Technology has made the shortlist for the prestigious 2011 RIBA Awards.

The nationwide Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) awards are in their 45th year and recognise buildings that have achieved high architectural standards and make a substantial contribution to the local environment.

The judges will look at the budget, size, complexity of brief, detail, invention/originality, contract type, client satisfaction, sustainability, social factors and capacity to engage and delight its occupants and visitors.

Architects:

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