A builder is creating his own eco-friendly house using bales of straw for walls, recycled tyres for a roof and timber washed ashore from a grounded freighter.
The highly unusual four-bedroom house in Ludgvan, west Cornwall, has magnificent views of the sea and countryside. It is already exciting widespread interest and, unlike some other projects of its type, it has the full blessing of planners.
Thirty-year-old owner Luke New has spent the past 18 months working on the house. He studied eco-renovation and green building design at the Centre for Alternative Technology in west Wales and he and his partner, Shelley Claxton, wanted to build an unusual but environmentally friendly property for themselves and their three young sons.
"We've been told other councils in the county would think twice, but we've been very lucky," says New. "We have had no problems with building regulations. Penwith council has been great."
The family is being helped by a team of builders and craftsmen and local recycled materials are being used wherever possible. Indeed, the team is using timber salvaged from a boat that ran aground earlier this year for rafters, flooring, window frames and kitchen surfaces.
New was among hundreds of people who converged on Whitsand Bay, east Cornwall, after the stricken freighter, Kodima, ran aground, losing 4,000 cubic metres of timber. "A friend called me at 2am and I spent the whole night salvaging wood," he says. "I also bought a load from a local salvage company, which I had delivered in a 10-tonne lorry."
He says the salvaged timber fits particularly well with the building's eco-friendly design. Many of the fixtures and fittings for the property were found in an old bungalow which was about to be demolished. The roof is made from recycled car-tyre slates, which look just like the real thing but have the advantage of being unbreakable.
The eco-house, which is still under construction, also includes four Douglas fir trees which rise up through the centre of the building to hold the roof. But it is the use of straw, supplied by local farmers, which New finds particularly exciting. Once compacted, the bales are rendered with a lime mortar to allow the walls to breathe and protect against weathering.
"It is a great insulating material," says New. "Although modern materials are very good, they require a lot of energy to produce, whereas straw is a natural product. Not only is it natural, but it is also a waste product. That's why it's so brilliant. It also looks fantastic. Although you can't see the straw because it is covered in lime, there is an uneven surface that you get with adobe huts.
"Any fire risk is minimised by the tight packing of the straw. This means if it did catch fire, it would merely smoulder and go out."
For New, who has so far spent £150,000 on the building, the eco-house is just the start of a labour of love. He plans to set up a company specialising in "green construction" and has already been approached by three people interested in having similar homes. "It is where the future lies," he says.
