BaleHaus at Bath

The BaleHaus is very much finished and looking rather striking against the blue skies we’ve been having over the last few days. Over the next year the house will be extensively monitored and various tests carried out. If you’d like to visit the house then please contact myself or ModCell and we’d be happy to show you around. I hope you’ve enjoyed the blog over the last few months as well as the webcam and the huge amount of photos on the ModCell website. The results from the research will be disseminated over the next year so I’m sure some of it will reach you. Thanks for reading!

Work has been continuing internally in the BaleHaus, with the panels being edged and other finishing touches being made. Glazing has been fitted in all but one panel, which is also awaiting a door. The staircase is in place and there’s even room for Harry Potter to sleep under it (apparently it can fit a double fit under it), if necessary. The trench for the electrics has been dug and the power for the house will be connected later this week. The house should be completely finished any day now and once it is I’ll write my final blog and hopefully some of you will come and visit.

The last few days have seen many people visiting the site as part of the international NOCMAT (Non-Conventional Materials and Technologies) conference hosted by the University of Bath this week. Visitors came from all over the world and they all seemed very interested in the BaleHaus.

Yesterday the upper level of the scaffolding was removed to enable the glass to be put in the windows on the first floor, which was done today. The lower level is due to be removed tomorrow and the final panels of glass put in place. The staircase will then be installed so that we can access the first floor again! The floors have been laid and the house is very nearly finished, just a few finishing touches and the electrics to connect and it’ll be complete ready for monitoring and testing.

Whilst I’ve been away the cladding on the house has been completed and some of the windows have been installed. The other windows will be fitted after the scaffolding has been taken down as there is no room to fit them with it up. The scaffolding is due to be taken down on Tuesday and Thursday of next week. The timber floor is being delivered this week and laid next week, the rest of the interior can then be completed, including a new staircase being installed. The house now has only a few weeks until it is handed over the University and we can start undertaking monitoring and testing on it.

A new week and the window frames are all in place ready for the glass to be fitted. The end of last week saw, amongst other things, the guys from Greenheart work very hard to take the very heavy phase change panel from the Grand Designs live house out of a first floor panel so that a new window frame could be installed. The aluminium flashing is now all in place and cladding is continuing. The timber floor should be arriving sometime soon and then this can be fitted and the inside of the house completed.

Again I’m away for the rest of the week, but this time I’m working; I’m presenting at the European Straw Bale Gathering in Belgium. As well as presenting I’ll be learning about straw research being undertaken throughout Europe and beyond and seeing different straw bale construction techniques in practice. When I return next week I’m sure the house will look almost complete!

The solar tube has now been installed and the roof is watertight; good timing for the rain predicted tomorrow! The aluminium flashing is continuing to be fixed into place and finishes the building off nicely. The windows, very kindly donated by Senior Architectural Systems (SAS), are being put into place this week by the guys from Greenheart who’ve also been doing the cladding as well as various other things on site. I’m away for the rest of the week and so I’m sure the building will look completely different when I come back on Monday.

The roof is now more or less finished and completely watertight. The view from the top is rather spectacular; you can even see one of Wiltshire’s White Horses on the side of the Wiltshire downs.

A hole has been made in the roof for the solar tube which will be fitted in the next few days. The window frames and accompanying glass arrived earlier today and will be installed tomorrow, if all goes to plan. The cladding is continuing to be fixed into place and the aluminium flashing is starting to be installed.

The electricians have wired in all the electrics for the house, including numerous double sockets and light fittings. All the joints between the panels have been sealed and are ready for the cedar cladding to go around the panels, so that the render is still visible. The cladding process started last week and will continue this week. This will add extra weatherproofing to junctions between the panels.

The roof is to be completed today and the windows are due tomorrow, although they won’t be installed until later in the week. All this means that we’re in for a busy week and that the house is almost finished and ready for monitoring! You can see a time lapse video of the building process to date on the BaleHaus home page; which I thought was rather exciting.

Work started again on site yesterday with the electricians coming to lay cabling for power and lighting in the house, which will be mainly hidden under the raised floor. Over the previous couple of work days the joints between the panels have continued to be filled to make airtight seals and the cladding should be applied this and next week.

Merl is finishing the render on the two panels that came from the structures lab as they have now cured for the necessary 14 days. The windows are due next, but because of the scaffolding still being in place these will be inserted from the interior of the building, so the webcam will not show much of this taking place, but there will be photos on the website.

So far this week work on stitching the panels together has been underway with zip detailing that include airtight tape and plywood. The exterior cladding will then be added and is due next week.

The electrician was also on site with members of ModCell, White Design and myself to enable a strategy for the light fittings and switches as well as electrical sockets to be finalised. How many people does it take to position a light bulb?!