This image highlights the new roof on straw bale cottage we have completed, and 4 inch square posts ready for construction of a tiny kitchen add-on. As shown and described in additional photos in the section, the original small straw bale, with a square foot size of 400, was in dire need of proper roof overhangs.
The original construction did not allow for the well known basics of natural building. A good pair of shoes in the form of a high enough foundation, and a good hat in the form of a roof with a minimum of 2 feet overhangs. Consequentially, there were issues with the straw bale house that we were called in to fix.
First up was to add a proper roof, and luckily for the structure it’s new owner is architect Andrew Kerr who created a new and interesting roof design which maintained the elements of the original design while adding on the much needed additions. The newly concepted roof design also included adding a new room to hold a kitchen, which the straw bale space was sorely lacking.
Shown here is the finished metal roofing highlighting the pyramid shaped center, covered in galvalume and framing ready to receive the new kitchen walls. As mentioned in other posts in this section, the walls will be made with stick frame construction with additional exterior insulation for an added boost in efficiency.
The new kitchen and roof will breathe new life into this small space created sometime, we believe, in the mid 1990’s in the unique town of Crestone, Colorado.
This front view will later become the front door to the new efficient kitchen.