LTL Architects Builds All Straw House in New York

LTL Architects, in collaboration with Guy Nordenson and Associates and Princeton University, has completed a prototype residence that turns highly compacted straw boards into a structural building system. Prefabricated over two months at Princeton's Architecture Lab, the house is assembled from 16 large straw units whose material properties directly determine the geometry of the walls and roof.

Straw is a rapidly growing agricultural byproduct that stores carbon as it grows. The research was developed through a hands-on learning process involving Princeton student researchers. Construction begins with cutting, stacking, and compressing straw boards into large prefabricated elements. Inside, 111 layers of straw remain exposed as a smooth interior surface, with wood ring beams introduced every 22 layers for lateral stability.

Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event

The exterior follows the same design logic, using 33 prefabricated thatch panels as a rainscreen where each panel overlaps the one below by 21 inches. These panels are smoothed into a continuous coat, while elongated windowsills extend over the tapered thatch beneath them. Measuring between six and eight inches thick, the thatch contains tens of thousands of linear reeds to create a textured field across the exterior.

"the All Straw House operates as a research project scaled to the size of a dwelling."

LTL Architects

Source: designboom