Since 2019 Huff and Puff Construction have been hard at work on an exciting project to deliver a new flagship straw-bale building for Hastings Borough Council – a new Visitor centre at Hastings Country Park. This centre will house information about the park, its habitats, geology, heritage and species, together with a café and new […]
I’m delighted to say Huff & Puff Construction are sponsoring the inaugural Big Straw Bale Gathering, to be held 10th-12th August at Down to Earth, Swansea. This is the first event of its type, a gathering to discuss and learn straw bale construction and share the latest and best thinking within the industry. Held at Down […]
When straw bale building, one inevitably ends up with lots of wood that needs both gluing and nailing together. But what glue should a natural builder use? Where there is a need for exterior grade glue and certainty that the fix will not be compromised over time, the current glue you frequently see being used […]
When I was young I wanted to do a lot of different things, but the core ambition was always to do something that would help our environment, not make it worse. To find and promote ways to ‘live lightly’ and co-exist with the rest of nature – the lack of which, for all the positives […]
I’ve been busy this month working with all the wonderful folk at Bittles Brook Farm in Motcombe, Shaftesbury, in preparation for the building and training course we are running there in a couple of weeks. I’ve come to know the farm through Jonathan Davies, who is a recently graduated Master of Architecture, educated in Australia, […]
I am delighted to say that Huff and Puff Construction is now an accredited Living Wage employer! You can read all about the Living Wage on the website here – and you can find us listed on this page. Paying employees a living wage makes sound business sense and, as an ethical business, this was […]
Week four of the Sherborne build and the first week of young people and Youth Centre staff helping on the site. The main focus this week has been digging the holes for the car tyre piers. We needed 11 holes in total and, as mentioned previously, the clayey and rocky soil had been baked rock […]
Well it’s been an extraordinary month on the Sherborne build. You may remember we are building a straw bale roundhouse. It’s being built with community involvement and will become a community building. Going from so much planning and preparation into actually being on site has been very exciting indeed. Here is an update on the […]
Our Sherborne big build will be – drum roll please… at the Sherborne Youth and Community Centre! The project is for a seven metre diameter straw bale roundhouse, and will run from now until October. The centre, on Tinney’s Lane in Sherborne, is a community hub for both the young of Sherborne and the local […]
The Sherborne Big Build is officially launching tomorrow! Beg, steal or borrow a copy of the Western Gazette to find out the location! Or alternatively check back here because I’m bursting to tell you more! In the meantime here is a photo of the site marked out ready to go. Can you guess where it […]