In their own words.

"Andrew and I had wanted to build a sustainable home for many years, when the opportunity arose to build a new home on our farm we decided (after significant research!) to build using Strawbale.

But two issues stood in our way: we felt that the sheer physicality of moving/ stacking all those bales might be a bit much at our age and we weren't happy with the amount of floor space they would consume. We also felt that the time required to do several coats of render on straw bales would be prohibitive to us.

The discovery of the viva panels solved all of these issues for us! The process of ordering, installation and technical support during our build as well as Sam's knowledge of his product made it smooth sailing and to have walls up in two days was amazing!

I cannot overstate how comfortable we are living in this home, we do not have any air conditioning and our only heating is a wood stove in the kitchen. Our temperatures get below zero and over 40 degrees at times, house temp has only ever been between 16-24 degrees. The pride we have in this home comes not only from how beautiful it is but that we can say "we built this ourselves"!"

"It had always been a dream of ours to build a strawbale home. For many years, we purchased books and researched about strawbale homes, and stayed in them when we had the chance when travelling. About 3 years ago, we had our plans approved and ready to go, but the process of building bale by bale became daunting.

With both of us working full time and with young children, we didn't know how we were going to have the time to complete the strawbale build and we nearly threw away our dream completely. We were on our annual family holiday, contemplating what options we had to do a simpler, more conventional home than strawbale, and saw the panels advertised.

After making an enquiry and getting a quote, the rest is history. In just over 12 months, our house is finished and we are in the house we always dreamed off. The panels were amazing, built exactly to the size and shape we needed, and all installed within 2 days after delivery. All of our tradies have been happy to be on the journey too, the panels have been easy for them to work with. The team at Viva Living Homes are experts in strawbale building and have been supportive throughout the duration of the build. They have been accessible and approachable, always answering a phone call, and able to provide practical strawbale building advice.

The house is incredibly comfortable. In Stanthorpe (which is a cold part of Queensland!), we are at the end of Autumn and haven't had to turn a heater on yet. Similarly in summer, inside was much cooler than outside and limited cooling was needed. Thanks to the Viva Living Homes team, we wouldn't be where we are today without the panels being available to help us on our build."

"Hi to all the crew at Viva Living Homes. It's coming up to 2 years since we have moved into our beautiful home in Orange, NSW.

Some info, after spending two summers and two winters in our straw panel home. This summer has been particularly hot, with several days hovering around 40 degrees outside. Our indoors temperature has been a constant 25 degrees. We have no air conditioning.

Winter in Orange ranges from -5 to 10 degrees outside, and it's a long cold winter. Our heating costs were $400 per year.

We are so happy about the thermal quality of our home. Thanks again Viva"