▣ TYPE: Postgraduate technical research

▨ INSTITUTION: Central Saint Martins MArch
▤ KEY MATERIALS: Hemp / Miscanthus / Reed / Wheat / Timber / Clay 
▦ METHODOLOGY: Carbon analysis / Drawing / 1:1 mockups
▥ GUESTS: Mark Harrington / Dr Anne Beim / Margit Kraft / EBUKI

The Long Straw is a research project that through drawing, modelling and building explores the capacity of straw crops to be integrated into viable and scalable construction systems. As a by-product of short rotation crops, straw is highly effective at drawing carbon out of the atmosphere. By exploring straw as part of a building fabric, this research seeks to extend the life of this carbon store. 

Straw production can be integrated into agroecological growing practices that help to regenerate soils and rehabilitate broader ecosystems within a wider locale. The project proposes both the design of a building system and that of the land from which it is drawn, conveyed through 1:1 prototypes and accompanying analysis detailing the precise hectarage of crops required for a single-family home.  These prototypical systems utilise a number of species such as wheat, hemp, reed and miscanthus to produce strategies that are rooted in a bioregional approach.

STUDENTS:Alex Toohey, Evelyn Salt, Holly Le-Var, Lauren Dennis, Nelha Manaf, Ryan Lewis, Tom Richardson, Twearly Peaster, Bella Colley, Bertie Brown, Chloë Sumption, Jacob Hill, Lauren Lu, Libby Brodie, Nirav Upadhyay, Pamela Naidoo, Rachel Leong, Alice Baseian, Amy Teh, Edie Parfitt, Ellie Cunningham, Penny Brearley, Renua Ikiebe, Sally Clapp and Scarlett Barclay, Angeliki Ioannidi, Liesl Braganca, Loulwa Alshalan, Marco Nicholas, Maxwell Wootton, Nica Sabet, Sarah Osei, Tin Tin Au and Tobi Ajanaku