Sounds like he combined sod, straw-bale, & seat of the pants. Wonder how building codes work over there?
Straw-bale homes are awesome! (Earth-sheltered are too.)
Some day, I hope to have one, hopefully that I've helped build, maybe with solar & wind power so it's independant.
Straw-bale homes are super-insulated [
IIRC, something like R50!], which means exceptionally warm in winter & cool in summer, plus being quiet.
This isn't a new building method, having been used on the plains where there weren't many trees, sort of like sod houses.
They're relatively inexpensive, though the stucco / plaster may need closer attention in some climates.
The only oddity is that you have to plan ahead for hanging cabinets, pictures, etc. & install wood framing under the plaster, to have something to attach them to.
Here's an informative site:
http://www.strawbale.com/
KBCraig is right - as long as the plaster is intact the house is fireproof for all intents & purposes. And even if there's a crack or flake, the straw is so compressed that it would smoulder & (probably) go out rather than actually burn. That being said, insulating around the flue/chimney is important.
PPM - part of the framework for most straw-bale houses is a sill & cap (
I don't know the right term for it - the anti-sill on the top of a wall) plus rebar vertically to pin the bales together. Then cable is run around the sill, bales, & cap all along the wall & tightened down to compress the bales vertically. The pictures I've seen show the builders hanging their body weight on the cables, but I think a more even & predictable load can be had by using a winch or comealong. Pre-compression is important because with a roof full of snow the bales
will compress, & if that's done after the stucco sets you've got problems.
