straw classroom
LIVERPOOL’S first straw bale building has thrown open its doors in the grounds of a Childwall school.
After three months hard work, the bales are stacked, the lime walls finished and the cedar shingle roof in place.
Sat on a foundation of 18 tonnes of aggregate rock and car tyres, the outdoor classroom is perched on the playground of Rudston Infant School.
Thought to be the only building of its kind in the North West, the classroom is sustainable and eco- friendly, incorporating local materials.
More than 100 straw bales from Netherley were used alongside green oak taken from fallen trees in Woolton Woods.
Wide-mouthed pupils smiled in delight as they filed into the wooden-floored classroom where they created decorations by potting plants in old shoes and tins.
Inside the building, many played in the indoor sandpit whilst others stared at the Truth panels; panes of glass revealing the straw bales underneath the coating of lime and clay.
Neil Raffle, boss of Woolton’s Abbey Landscapes who made the classroom, said the build had been a major learning curve.
He added: “The hardest part has been the weather and keeping the straw dry before we covered them in clay and lime.
“It has been a real dirty-hands job with the clay, but it’s fantastic that most of the material is local and the classroom will last for 30 years or more.”
Designed by Liverpool’s Michael Cunningham Architects, the pupils have been involved in every stage of the build.