The Bale House Hastings
Cave was appointed by Hastings Borough Council to work with Groundwork South, the council, and the community on a new sustainable, straw bale community hub in Hastings Country Park, SSSI Nature Reserve.
The Bale House - A Place for People
The Bale House is a load bearing straw bale community hub using natural, recycled and local materials, and crafts. Inclusivity is at the heart of the design and the project has involved the community from its inception. It provides a space for education, healthy living, the arts, and somewhere to relax and drink tea. The Bale House is a public project that has been built by a small group of artisan builders. The building is managed by a charity that works closely with volunteers on its development and ongoing delivery.
The new centre will provide information to visitors about this unique part of the High Weald Sussex coastline; it’s geology, flora, fauna, and local history. It was designed to blend into the beautiful natural surroundings of the park and be as sustainable as possible. Cave used locally sourced materials and craftspeople where possible and engaged several local artists.
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The majority of the timber used was UK grown Douglas Fir and a small amount of UK Larch. Lime was used for the external render and internal plaster. Breathable lime based paints were used to improve durability. The limecrete floor slab sits on a recycled glass aggregate insulating sub-base and the surrounding masonry plinth is made from 100% recycled concrete/furnace ash. The straw bales came from a farm in Essex that specialises in producing dense construction bales.
You can visit The Bale House in the beautiful Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve. It’s worth a trip - if only for the cake!
