Camel's Back Construction, Ontario's first straw bale building company, has been in operation since 1998. Tina Therrien is sole proprietor of the company, and she brings her passion of the natural building world and teaching to the forefront of the business. There are many talented and skilled employees who round out the team of camels with exceptional plastering, timber framing, and straw bale abilities. We, at Camel's Back Construction, are committed to building as sustainably as possible, and we care immensely about each project that we work on. We work closely with owner/builders, but are happy to take on the framing, bale work & plastering for you.

We have built a plethora of buildings over the last fourteen years, both residential and commercial. One of our largest projects was a round 10,000 square foot round horse stable with a 2,000 square foot tack room/apartment attached to it, but we have also worked on small studios. Our buildings have been round, oval, square, and hexagonal, and we even built a three storey tower once (not that we would recommend this!). We specialise in plasters, notably clay, lime and tadelakt, but we can also do framing and build bale walls with our diverse group of skilled workers.

                                                                                                           We would be delighted to talk about your natural building plans. Our team of experts are versed in earthbag foundations, cob, slip form walls, earthen plasters, stacked bale,tadelakt, and lath & plaster. We also have a timber frame shop where we can lay out and cut frames for your buildling.

 

Tina Therrien spent three weeks in Haiti working on the country's first ever straw bale building with Builders without Borders in December 2010.

Tina returned to Haiti for two months to work with the Haitian group, Centre d'Inspiration Jeunesse in a community in the Artibonite Valley who have built a compressed earth block school, where she initiated the construction of a composting toilet facility for the school.

In February of 2012, took a group of particants from the Endeavour Centre to Haiti to work on some natural building ventures in the Artibonite Valley, and to volunteer in Port au Prince at Haiti Communitère.

                                                                                                          

We believe that straw bale building is the most environmentally sound, efficient and attractive way of constructing homes to match the demands and expectations of modern life in our northern climate. These ideals of reduced environmental impact, energy efficiency and aesthetic beauty are the central motivation behind the building that we do.

After a decade of full-time bale construction activity for a wide variety of clients, we've also come to realize that, for a number of different reasons, straw bale building invites people to consider fundamentally their goals and reasons for building. Straw bale building seems to empower them to actively take part in making a building that is more than a combination of walls, roof, doors and windows, but is rather a unified whole that reflects their spirit and their values.

Creating a new building is an intimidating, complex and expensive venture. We enjoy this process, and are glad to be able to bring advice, understanding and humour to those undertaking the creation of a new building.

The pursuit of building excellence requires a combination of creative architecture, the highest possible energy efficiency, careful budgeting and conscientious construction. We strive to combine all of these in unique buildings that bring deep satisfaction to their owners.

We look forward to the chance to discuss your building ideas with you.