Modular Straw Bale Housing for Ukrainian Refugees

Modular Straw Bale Housing for Ukrainian Refugees — IADA 2026 award

Modular Straw Bale Housing for Ukrainian Refugees received Platinum Winner recognition at the International Architecture & Design Awards 2026 in Pop-ups, Temporary & Modular Structures. Project status, design team and credits are listed alongside the presentation.

About the project

This project proposes a rapidly deployable, modular refugee housing system for rural regions of Ukraine, where displacement, resource scarcity, and seasonal climate extremes demand immediate and adaptable spatial responses.

The project develops a lightweight, prefabricated building system designed for quick assembly, disassembly, and relocation with minimal tools and labor. Organized as a modular kit-of-parts, the system allows units to expand, cluster, and reconfigure over time—supporting a range of conditions from emergency shelter to semi-permanent settlement.

The construction utilizes locally sourced straw, one of the most abundant agricultural byproducts in the region, combined with timber frames and clay layers. Processed into compressed panels and bundles, straw provides high thermal insulation, low embodied carbon, and full vapor permeability—ensuring safe drying and indoor comfort in the cold, humid conditions of IECC Climate Zone 6A.

The system is intentionally low-tech and accessible, enabling displaced families and local communities to participate directly in the construction process without specialized equipment.

By transforming agricultural waste into a scalable, circular, and reconfigurable housing system, the project reframes temporary architecture as an adaptive and evolving spatial infrastructure rather than a short-term solution.

S SQUARE (S²)

S SQUARE (S²) is a design studio founded at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. The studio aims to approach architecture not as an isolated object, but as a system operating across spatial, social, and environmental scales.

Our work is guided by five core principles—sustainable, systemic, scalable, spatial, and situated—through which we seek to understand architecture as both context-responsive and system-oriented.

We aim to move beyond architecture as a fixed solution, and instead engage it as an open-ended spatial system that adapts, transforms, and evolves over time. We are interested in how architecture organizes relationships between people, materials, and environments, and how it can remain flexible across different conditions and scales.

Through this approach, S SQUARE aims to develop a responsive and evolving architectural practice.