The Clay Walls of the Maya Guesthouse.


The straw walls have been covered with clay inside the rooms.

Clay is one of the oldest building materials in the world.

For over 9000 years  this natural product is used by humans. Such an “archaic” material is perceived as genuine.  It is available everywhere and very widespread.
For someone who is looking for a healthy indoor climate, clay is what he should use. It is easy to handle and not more expensive than other building materials.
Since we spend about 90% of our time inside the house, the indoor climate affects decisively our well-being and our health. This indoor climate depends on the building materials used as well as the room temperature,  the ventilation and air movement, humidity and the contaminants in the air. Clay has a balancing effect on all of that.
Clay has the ability to absorb dust, gases and steam to  store them and release them again with a delay. This particularity has a favorable effect on the indoor climate.
It also binds pollutants from the air to the clay minerals .

Clay can quickly absorb and release humidity as needed. The regulation of the humidity contributes to a healthy indoor climate. The humidity in a house with clay walls was 50% almost all year long. This was the result of scientific measurements over a period of five years.
When clay  is applied conventionally it has a drying time of up to six weeks. Interior clay plaster contain no additives they are made of pure earth. If they are mixed with plant fibers and straw the surface of the plaster changes and gains an additional charm.

In every room, we have placed a little window revealing the straw bales.

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About The Maya Guesthouse

The Maya Guesthouse is the first hotel built with straw bales. This hotel is situated on 1300 meters in the Swiss Alps. We took 250 tons of CO2 and stocked them into the walls. Valais and Swiss specialties are served in our restaurant. Join us on Facebook!
This entry was posted in Blog, Construction, Environment, Holidays, Life, Lifestyle, Maya Guesthouse, Photography, Photos, Straw Bale House, straw bale houses, The Development of the Maya Guesthouse, Travel and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

3 Responses to The Clay Walls of the Maya Guesthouse.

  1. vicky leaney says:

    Looks beautiful! Well done Lise and Louis. Hopefully will come and visit next week! Vicky

  2. Michelle Gillies says:

    The walls look amazing and I had no idea about the properties of clay. I love how they did the window treatment to the inside wall so you could see the straw.

  3. natuurfreak says:

    I have seen this construction works on the Floriade 2012 in Venlo.Very special.

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