Holistic architecture

Exciting projects are delivering a greener world in Europe and beyond without losing out on visual appeal. But what's happening on the home front?

Low-energy, sustainable, bioregional architecture forms part of eco-chic that has inevitably followed on the strident clamour for saving our planet over the past two decades. Now, how much these wake-up calls are getting through or falling on deaf ears is an argument that plunges into political intrigues and vested interests, and often loses sight of what is happening on and off the design boards.

For the real breakthrough comes in developing economically viable and visually appealing architectural projects that work in harmony with the natural world, not against it. And this does not merely boil down to the fad of restored farmhouses into Malta's prized villas, or folksy images of timber homes in the western world with grass roof, or awesome high tech offices exclusively latched onto wind and solar power - a misconception fuelled by the Nineties' rage for the biohouse plus the craze over feng shui. Indeed it does not take much logic or imagination to realise that a worldwide fad for timber housing will worsen the global destruction of our long threatened and fast disappearing forests.

So what is the core of sustainable design?

An understanding of materials, their innate properties, where they come from and planning how to use them sums up a new approach to the construction industry, which also aims at reducing transport time and overall costs. The original rubble walls that created the terraced fields in Malta and Gozo built to prevent soil erosion are a case in point. Elsewhere, rediscovering traditional building methods within particular climates and resources at hand is saving both money and energy.

Straw bale construction in Europe, America and Australia is one such building method and one that is highly energy-efficient, safe, inexpensive and easy to work with. Straw has for centuries been used to thatch roofing and mixed with earth in cob and wattle to daub walls. Straw bales are made from the left-over stems of harvested grasses such as wheat and rice that are high in tensile strength, after the seed heads have been removed.

Straw is composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignins, and silica. Different grasses have slightly different qualities, for instance rice straw has a significant amount of silica, which adds density and resistance to decomposition.

Come the invention of straw baling machines by settlers in Nebraska in the late 1800s, straw bale housing began in earnest. Straw bales also turn a waste product that pollutes the air when burnt into one of the most promising of alternative building materials. Plus, in total contrast to trees, which take years to grow, straw is grown and harvested within four months.

The idea of building anything permanent out of straw sounds utterly ridiculous but that's until holistic architects found out that straw bale walls are inexpensive, surprisingly resistant to fire and decay as well as extraordinary in maximising heat and sound insulation.

They are also resistant to vermin because, unlike hay, they don't have any nutritional value to mice and rats. So long as they are protected from moisture and their structural characteristics are taken into account, straw bales can be used to build structures that are attractive, safe, and durable.

Most straw bale houses require a frame of timber or steel, while straw bale walls are rendered with cement or earth so that the straw is concealed either with a smooth or textured finish. The cement or earth is also crucial in boosting thermal mass which straw naturally lacks.

Straw bales are not alone in revolutionising home construction methods from London to Adelaide. Reed mats are no longer exclusive to yoga devotees or tribal huts, but are being used to protect against sunshine and wind.

In fact reed thatching is the hallmark of today's funky continental home design because it looks great while cutting down on heating bills. Reed plates also boast excellent heat and sound insulation and it is also fire- and rodentresistant. Can our hasira blinds go this far?

One of the most maverick examples of holistic architecture is the RIBA award-winning Futurehouse in England, which was built as part of the Milton Keynes housing expo in 1994. Its designers Duncan Baker-Brown and Ian McKay made the changing patterns of day and night within the seasonal cycle intrinsic to their overall plan as well as to detail.

So the thick block walls doubled up as a whole new look and a first-rate energy saver. For these absorb heat by day and radiate it back at night. Improving insulation reduces bills while working in sync with a solar panel that ensures hot water for eight months of the year and warm water for underfloor heating for the remaining four. The elements are also tapped to the full so that rainwater collects off the roof, filters through a reed bed and is used to flush the toilets and water the garden.

Stunning results are also accumulating from adopting and adapting other traditional building materials such as lime-based mortar, sheep's wool and newsprint insulation. Unlike cement, lime mortar in the brickwork is reusable no matter how many times the building it's used in is demolished.

If these eco-friendly materials sound lackluster or a tad whimsy, hemp has all the hip and hype to steal the headlines, especially when it is dubbed "cannabis hemp of the non-narcotic variety". Mixed with lime and water to resemble porridge, it is poured between shuttered ply frames and let to set and dry for six to eight weeks.

Actual building time obviously varies according to the size and quantity of rooms, but the floors and walls of a spacious two-bedroomed house may be done within two months. At this point it can be easily limewashed or left natural outside and in, and even paneled for interiors.

Besides, hemp scores maximum points for sound absorption, preventing condensation and crack resistance, meaning mega-repair or touch-up jobs are virtually axed. It also warms up quickly, saving loads on hefty heating bills. By contrast, cement is highly prone to disintegration while hemp goes from strength to strength because the lime it's mixed with absorbs carbon dioxide as it sets, also making it an air purifier.

Another one-up on cement is that hemp is not costly to produce. It is a high-yielding crop that matures in four months, is naturally resistant to pests and returns nutrients to the soil.

No wonder it's hard to find a more eco-friendly rival making hemp-reinforced concrete a select choice in trendy homes, especially in the north of France.

While imported cement, solid reinforced and hollow concrete are ubiquitous in contemporary building construction in Malta, it's the local honey-coloured globigerina limestone that makes our buildings so distinctive. It has been the rage since Neolithic times because coupled with a seasonally sensitive design it offers the most comfortable shelter from the blistering summer sun. Its wonderful plasticity has also been a bonanza for flamboyant or understated sculpture.

The downside has been the ghastly spectacle of quarries that gash the land like hideous sores and the depletion of the natural resource. Yet the decline in its use owes more to problems within the construction industry [primarily a shortage of workers apart from the scarcity off good quality stone] rather than a move towards designing holistically.

Alternative materials, smaller stone slabs and the escalating use of stone cladding are the ensuing result. But the notions of reuse or recycle are rarely put into practice. Except for hard stone aggregate that is added to sand in the production of concrete (quantities vary according to the strength required) or weathered stones collected from farmhouses and rubble walls, demolished buildings keep on worsening our waste problem.

Today's quarrying methods also prevent constructors from shaping stone slabs from the globigerina limestone they dig on site because pertinent machinery is barred in restricted areas. The intolerable pile-up of dust to residents poses another drawback. Yet anyone who has the misfortune of living close to a development or redevelopment site (read thousands of long-suffering citizens) will vouch that the laws are not strict enough. And I have not even skimmed the surface of rising asthma incidence and other respiratory problems afflicting the whole lot of us.

So while many new buildings are sporting more attractive designs, is there hope for holistic architecture in Malta?