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Home Sweet
Home
When I sat
down with
Sandpoint
architect
Bruce
Millard not
long ago,
one thing
quickly
became
apparent:
Bruce’s work
was not
simply about
grabbing
onto the
current
trend of
“green”
everything,
or just
about the
use of
non-toxic
and
environmentally
friendly
materials in
the
buildings he
designs. A
passionate determination
to live
every aspect
of his life
in as
sustainable
a manner as
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possible is the
driving force behind
his life and being.
And, beyond simply creating sustainable structures that have the highest
possible positive impact on
environment and occupants, Bruce is
deeply concerned
with how his designs
can enhance a sense
of community, as
well as how they
relate with their
natural setting, both aesthetically
and functionally.
Has he succeeded? You bet. Do his homes sacrifice form in favor of
function? Not a
chance. He designs
dwellings of such elegance
and beauty that they
have been featured
in such prestigious
magazines as Fine
Homebuilding.
If I had to sum up my perception of Bruce’s work in as few words as
possible, I would
have to say, “Zen in
the art of
architecture.”
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A
Different
Way of
Thinking
Since
starting
architecture
school
at the
age of
18,
environmental
activism
and a
passionate
pursuit
of
intelligent
design
have
been the
forces
that
have
shaped
Bruce Millard’s
life.
His work
has
covered
a
diverse
range of
projects,
including
everything
from
designing
and building
a
sandbox
for a
community
center,
to high
rise, to
designing
entire
communities.
“How I think about design is an
evolution
of how I
began to
think about
life
when I
was in
college
in the
late
sixties
and
early
seventies—a
time
when we
questioned.
The Arab
oil
embargo
of 1973
had a
profound
effect
on the
direction
my
thinking
went.
Instead
of
fighting
these people—instead
of
arguing
over
oil—why
don’t we
just use
less?
Why
don’t we
use the
sun to
help
heat our
houses?
How does
the
natural
system
and the
man-made
system
go
together
with
what I
was
thinking
about as
a
person?
Since,
to me,
architecture
is a
reflection
of
yourself
and
society,
and
there’s
no
pulling
it
apart,
that’s
the
direction
I took.
And,
I’ve
pretty
much
expanded
on that
my whole
life
since.”
Thus it was that Bruce’s interest
turned
to
designing,
building
and
teaching
using
passive
solar
design,
researching
and
experimenting
on how
to build
healthy
buildings,
and
exploring
the use
of
alternative
building
techniques,
such as
straw-bale
construction.
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A
Visit to
Bruce’s
Studio
I’d been
looking
forward
to
meeting
Bruce.
Partly
because
I was interested
in
learning
more
about
his
philosophies
on life
and
architecture,
but also
because
I was
curious
about
the
concept
of
straw-bale
construction,
a method
Bruce
had used
to build
his
design
studio.
How
substantial
could a
structure
made
from
dried
grasses
really
be? How
well
would it
withstand
the test
of time?
Arriving at the studio, my skepticism quickly fell by the wayside. This
was not
the
little
pig’s
flimsy
grass
house of
fairytale
fame.
This was
a
rock-solid
structure
that
imparted
a sense
of
substance,
durability
and
strength
- a
beautiful
and
inviting
design.
And, though I knew from exploring Bruce’s Web site that straw-bale
construction
was but
a small
part of
his
repertoire
of
design
techniques,
my
curiosity
got the
better
of me. I
asked
Bruce to
tell me
more.
Straw-Bale
Construction
“Straw
is an
area of
great
interest
for me.
The
reason
it’s so
fabulous
is that
it goes
back to
a lot of
the way
the
world
works.
And, a
lot of
how this
country
used to
work,
which is
you
provided
your own
housing,
especially
in a
rural
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Working
with
straw
bale is
simple
to do.
It
doesn’t
require
tools.
It
doesn’t
require
a ton of
knowledge.
I can
teach
you how
to stack
the
walls
made out
of straw
in
half-an-hour,
and you
will
know as
much as
I do—not
everything,
but
basically
how to
do it.
“The best thing about it is that it is very ‘green,’ very sustainable and
almost
negative
in
embodied
energy—the
amount
of
energy
it takes
to
manufacture
and
transport
it to
the
building
site.”
Bruce put up the studio’s strawbale walls in 1998, building on a rubble-filled
trench
and
concrete
ICF-grade
beam
foundation.
I found
interesting
because
in that
a rubble-filled
trench
was the foundation
technique
used
centuries
ago by
Spanish
missionaries
to build
their
new-world
churches.
And indeed,
the
studio’s
soft,
smooth
edged
lines
and
finish
are reminiscent
of
southwestern
adobe
architecture.
He suggests that the walls be built at least eight inches above grade to
prevent
any
possible
infiltration
of
moisture.
For finishing the walls, Bruce recommends using cement plaster for the
exterior,
and a
cement
and
gypsum
plaster
inside,
as these
are
available
locally
and easy
to work
with it.
Other
plasters
that can
be used
include
lime
plaster
and mud
plaster.
Plaster can be troweled on, which is labor intensive, or sprayed on,
which is
the
smarter
choice,
because
of the
inch-and-a-half
of
material
you are
applying,
inside
and out.
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The studio roof is supported by wooden trusses set on wood plates capping the straw-bale walls. The tile floors stay foot-cozy warm in winter due to an in-floor radiant hydronic heating system powered by a 30 gallon hot-water heater.
Bruce states that in the years since it was constructed, the studio has been weathertight, problem free and energy efficient—the dense, thick walls offering high insulation and thermal mass values.
“After ten years of working with straw bales, to me it’s just another building material. Like stone, like
wood, like brick, like plastic,
you have reasons why, and why not, to
use it. It has an aesthetic that is
stronger than many of the others, and the material is incredibly ecological. It is a byproduct of food—the stem that holds up cereal grain. That’s all it does in life.
“When you start looking at straw, or even grasses, you realize that, like wood, they’re composed of cellulose. And a lot of stuff that we use is made out of cellulose. It could be hemp. Or, it could be straw,” Bruce says,
pointing out a glass pane he calls “the truth window” that allows me to view the straw interior of the studio walls.
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Bruce then asks me to take a
closer look at the lustrous natural finish of the paneling that covers the interior walls of his studio. “That’s
made from bluegrass straw,” he says, “Like we burn in Spokane each summer, polluting the air, and filling people’s lungs.”
He goes on to explain that the huge
expanses of grasses that make up the Palouse region, from Washington all the way over to Montana and North Dakota, are “virgin forests”
that have a great deal of economic potential for the creation of myriad materials that can be used in construction.
“And, while densely-packed bales of straw—not hay or grass—are the only proper choice for use in
constructing straw-bale walls, any sort of grass or straw can be used to manufacture other types of products
when mixed with such materials as recycled plastic or cement.
“The great thing about straw construction is that people think it’s neat. They get into it. They come to a workshop, build a house and they
say, ‘Wow! Look what we just did. We put these walls up in one day. Look how warm it’s going to be. How ecological. There was nothing
destroyed to make this. There was no forest destroyed. There was no child destroyed in a village in Asia to
create the plastic product.
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What
else
can
I do
that’s
ecological?’
“It brings people together because that’s the best way to build it. The
people
are
not
there
to
make
money.
It’s
the
old
Amish
barn
raising
thing.
It’s
a
big
statement
that
gets
you
thinking
about
stuff,
and
that’s
what’s
so
exciting
about
it
to
me.
“One of the most important parts to me is the aesthetic. I love the feeling
you
get
in a
house
made
of
straw
with
plastered
walls.
Although
you
can
save
on
labor
costs
by
doing
it
yourself,
only
ten-to-fifteen
percent
of
the
overall
cost
of a
traditional
house
is
the
walls.
So
you
don’t
do
it
for
cost.
You
do
it
for
aesthetics.
You
do
it
for
ecological
reasons.
And,
it’s
really
good
in
fire
as
well.”
Pointing at the studio walls he goes on to say, “These plaster wall systems
are
easily
rated
for
two hours.
That
means
it
takes
two hours
or
longer
for
a
fire
to
work
its
way
through
and
combust
the
other
side,
whereas
a
typical
house
in
Sandpoint
would
take
20
minutes
or
less
to
burn
through.
When
firemen
think
about
it,
they
love
it.
“However… I am not a straw-bale architect. I am an architect who uses
ecological
materials,
and
straw
just
happens
to
be
one
of
them.”
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 A
Different
Way
of
Designing
“The way I approach design has a lot to do with your needs… your desires…
your
loves.
But,
equally
important
to
me
is
the
site.
How
do
we merge
the
client’s
desire
to
the
site,
and
make
them
blend
as ecologically
as
possible
within
the
requirements
of
the
project.
“How do I look at the site? Solar is incredibly important to me. Light is
incredibly
important
to
me.
Where
is
the
sun?
Most
buildings
are
designed
today
without
asking
that.
How
does
the
light
come
in?
Where’s
the
wind?
All
these
incredible
views.
It’s
free
art
around
here.
That’s
how
I
think.
“Then, what materials are we going to use to enclose this building? We
want
to
use
materials
that
are
as
ecological
as
possible…
that
are
healthy…
that
are
energy
efficient.
We
want
to
use
materials
that
are
local
if
possible.
We
want
to
use
recycled
materials
if
possible.
At
the
same
time
it
must
be
put
together
to
be
beautiful.
But,
something
that
is
energy
efficient…
that
is
reaching
towards
the
sun…
that
is
good
for
the
environment…
is
beautiful
too.”
Bruce often uses concrete-filled, recycled insulated-foam forms such as
the
Rastra™
system
to
construct
the
exterior
walls
of
his
projects.
Exterior
finishes
can
include
cement
plaster,
or
the
use
of
more
traditional
materials
such
as
stucco,
natural
cedar,
or
Hardiplank™.
Interior wall finishes range from natural white porcelain cement mixed
with
light
colored
sand,
as
used
in
Bruce’s
studio
for
a
beautiful
effect,
to
tinted
gypsum
plaster.
And,
unlike
the
“flat”
finish
of
the
typical
painted
drywall
found
in
the
majority
of
all
homes,
these
walls
offer
a
gorgeous
diversity
of
light
patterns
and
color
variation
as
the
light
changes
throughout
the
day,
giving
almost
an
antique
appearance,
with
no
need
to
ever
be
repainted.
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Maximum
energy
efficiency
comes
from
the
use
of
proper
materials,
solar
orientation
and
implementation
of
high-tech
heating
and
cooling
systems.
Thinking
“Green”
“Though
we’ve
been
building
wood
frame
homes
since
the
1850’s,
we
really
didn’t
start
insulating
them
well
until
the
oil
embargos
of
the
70’s.
That’s
when
we
found
out
that
tight,
well-insulated
buildings,
in
combination
with
synthetic
materials
that
were
consistently
out-gassing,
were
slowly
killing
the
occupants.
The
more
we
insulate,
the
more
problems
we
get,
especially
in
cold
climates.
That’s
why
I
use
healthy
materials
that
do
not
contain
volatile
organic
compounds
in
my
buildings.”
Bruce says that one of the worst materials you can put into a house is
Poly
Vinyl
Chloride
(PVC),
or
any
other
form
of
vinyl,
such
as
those
used
in
window
frames,
the
covering
of
electrical
wiring,
the
white
pipe
used
in
water
systems,
vinyl
flooring,
shower
curtains,
etc.,
because
soft
vinyl
continuously
out-gasses
into
the
air
forever,
and
because
the
manufacturing
and
disposal
of
vinyl
and
PVC
is
very
unhealthy
as
well. |
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“What
studies
have
determined
recently,
world-wide,
is
that
we’re
finding
PVC
molecules
in
fish
living
in
the
deepest
depths
of
the
ocean…
in
high
concentrations
in
the
breast
milk
of
European
women…
and
even
more
so
in
American
women.
It
should
be
outlawed
immediately.
Even
the
disposal
of
discarded
PVC
products
is a
problem.
We’re
finding
PVC
molecules
leaching
out
of
landfills.
We’ve
been
using
it
for
50
to
60
years
in
buildings
that
are
now
being
torn
down,
creating
huge
problems
with
PVC
waste.
To
me,
Poly
Vinyl
Chloride
is
worse
than
asbestos…
close
to
nuclear…
that’s
my
instinct
from
what
I’ve
read.”
Fortunately, due to market demand, we now have many people-friendly, and
earth
friendly
alternative
building
materials
available
to
us,
including
low
VOC
paints,
he
tells
me. |
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Creating
a
Sense
of
Community
A
good
example
of
sustainable
architecture
designed
to
help
enhance
a
sense
of
community
is Park
Cottages,
an
award-winning,
sixteen
unit
project
that
Bruce
designed
for
Sandpoint
City
Councilman
Steve
Lockwood,
located
in
Sandpoint,
next
to
Hickory
Park.
Although the project is designed using “intelligent” materials… and
the
main
living
areas
and
windows
of
the
units
are
oriented
to
take
advantage
of
the
sun,
especially
in
winter,
when
the
maximum
possible
light
plays
an
important
role
in
chasing
the
winter
blues
away,
and
includes
such
features
as
in-floor
radiant
hot-water
heating,
it
is
also
designed
with
the
intention
of
fostering
an
enhanced
sense
of
community.
According to Bruce, “A community is more than just buildings. It’s people.
The
premise
here
is
to
build
small
units
arranged
in a
way
to
create
a
sense
of
community
by
creating
places
of
communication...
of
contact.
“So much of American design today defeats the concept of community, because
it
isolates
people
from
people.
If
you
drive
around
Sandpoint
you’ll
see
this.
The
older
buildings
have
nice
porches
that
face
the
street.
But,
with
most
new
housing
in
this
town,
you’ll
see
two
and
three-car
garages
facing
the
street,
and
a
four
foot-
wide
porch
that’s
set
back.
You
can’t
find
the
door. |
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“What
does
that
say
to a
community?
‘I
don’t
care
about
you.
We
don’t
relate
to
each
other.
We
only
relate
internally
to
ourselves.’
You’ve
got
to
get
through
the security
system,
the
barking
dogs,
and
the
fear
of
terrorism
to
get
in
the
door.
In a
sense,
that’s
where
America
has
taken
itself
since
WWII.
It’s
put
itself
in
isolation
because
of
the
automobile
maybe…
and
because
of
designers
and
builders
not
thinking
community.
“So, the whole premise of this project— one of the main reasons Steve is
developing
it—is
to
make
an
example
of
community
and
what
could
happen.”
A
Passion
and
a
Philosophy
Bruce
first
arrived
in
Sandpoint
some
20
years
ago,
drawn
to
the
region
by
an
ad
in
the
back
of a
macrobiotics
magazine
called
East
West
Journal,
and
a
desire
to
leave
urban
Philadelphia
for
a
community
with
clean
water,
clean
air
and
an
elevation
higher
than
the
population.
“I screwed up on that one,” he says, “But at least I came close.”
“I’ve always wanted to do buildings that are more congruent with my life
at
home.
I am
very
lucky
now
to
be
here,
and
working
in a
straw-bale
studio,
doing
work
that
is
as
intelligent
and
green
as I
can
get
it.”
Amen to that.
Bruce
Eugene
Millard
is
President
of
the
Northwest
EcoBuilding
Guild:
www.ecobuilding.org
For
more
information
on
his
work,
contact
info
or
other
resources,
you
can
visit
Bruce’s
website
at:
www.bemarchitect.com |
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