One framed wall?

Hi all,
I am new to this but considering building a small studio with no construction experience.  I’m interested in building a load bearing strawbale building approx 300 sq feet but am curious if anyone has ever built one with one of the walls completely framed out and three walls supporting the roof with strawbale only.

The reason I’d like to do this is so that I can put more/bigger windows in the south facing wall.  Any thoughts on if this would work or not?  Any idea how I would know how tall to make the framed wall given that the bales will need to be compressed to match the same height?

Thanks for any insight!
Kadin

What you ask about is done often.
You could build the strawbale walls first and then match the framed wall to suit.
You will have a top timber beam connected to the straw bales, all the way to the foundation, so the roof does not fly off.
When that is installed and the wall finished its height can be matched with the stud wall.
Will you have a concrete foundation?
What roof structure and material on the top are you thinking of?

John C Daley wrote:What you ask about is done often.
You could build the strawbale walls first and then match the framed wall to suit.
You will have a top timber beam connected to the straw bales, all the way to the foundation, so the roof does not fly off.
When that is installed and the wall finished its height can be matched with the stud wall.
Will you have a concrete foundation?
What roof structure and material on the top are you thinking of?

Thanks John!  Glad to hear it is done often!  So, just to see if I understand, I would basically just make a box beam that sits on the 3 strawbale walls, compress these down and then frame in the 4th wall to match the height?  I don’t know if I’m understanding or not.

As for the roof I’m thinking of keeping it simple sense I don’t know what I’m doing (other than what I’ve learned from books and YouTube).  I’ll do a single slant shed roof... most likely metal.

For the foundation I am thinking about building it from stone.  There is a lot of stone on my property and I like the look.  I know it will be more labor intensive but I have more time than money!  Planning to dig down below frost line, fill with gravel, tamp it down and then stone and mortar until 6+ inches above grade.  I’ll set J hooks in the mortar and use threaded bar that I’ll attach to the box beam.  I’m in southern Arizona so earthquakes are super rare and the frost line is only 12” down.

I haven’t drawn any plans or anything yet.. just starting to think about it.

Thanks so far!

There is no need to 'quote my message its just above.

You description of my words is correct.
The roof shape you describe is called a 'skillion' roof, they are simple.
Dont forget insulation or similar under the iron sheets.
A box beam is not required, a flat 10 x 2 inch beam.
Its no good expecting the hold down wires to hold in mortar, the very least would be to have a bar, hook system that will not allow the cable to pull out of the foundation.
The best way to pull the timber down is to have a threaded rod on the end of the hold down system poking through the flat timber, then uses washers and a spanner to tighten it.
Dont forget as you build the wall, you need to compress each layer as the wall goes up.
That way you dont have 6 inches compression at the end.
What book or site are you going to use to learn about it?

I would suggest you go across the a Forum that deals with strawbale construction for the finer details and perhaps come back here with the final details for review.

So here is a site that has good info and images
building with strawbales

Gripples are rural fencing items, the poly pipe is to reduce potential corrosion of the wires, the top plate is listed as either trench mesh or timber.
I can say timber is a lot easier to work with in terms of attaching the roof structure.

Thanks for insights and the link.  So far I’ve read “Straw Bale Building” by Chris Magwood & Peter Mack as well as “The Straw Bale House” by steen, and bainbridge.  Also I’ve read “The Hand Sculpted House” but that’s more directed at cob as you probably already know.

I did tour The Canelo Project out in Canelo Arizona recently and got many ideas from them.

I haven’t ever heard of compressing as you build up the walls.. I’ll have to look into that.  And as far as setting J bolts in the mortar I see how that could be an issue.  Maybe it would be better to set pvc or something through the foundation and use wire or straps instead...

Once I get a better understanding of how everything works I’ll start designing more specifically.

I appreciate the help.