"While rumours point towards the possibility of some bale buildings being built in South Africa at earlier dates, towards the end if 1994 a farmer in the West Coast of South Africa, Mr Martin Thom, built what could possibly be the Cape's first straw bale structure. He did so on his own initiative, unaware that it had previously been done anywhere else in the world. Since then scores of straw bale buildings have been built across Southern Africa. The author has helped pioneer a number of these structures, including double story constructions. Details of these buildings are included in the body of the document."

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(Horn, A.R. (2024). Straw Bale Building - A South African's Guide to Straw Bale Construction, page 14).