Durra Panel is manufactured in Bendigo, Victoria using agricultural waste – straw stubble – which is a by-product from food crops, sourced from farmers within a 100km radius of the manufacturing facility. This straw is abundantly available and is renewable with every year.

Durra Panel uses a unique dry extrusion manufacturing process which requires no water, gas or chemicals. Using only heat and pressure, a natural element within the straw is released and allows the panel core to self-bind without resins or binding agents with an extremely low embodied energy.

This incredibly sustainable process allows Durra Panel to provide positive benefits for both humans and the environment. Being 99.9% free from Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Durra Panel creates spaces that embody an extraordinary natural feeling while providing healthy living and working environments.

Our built environment creates approximately 40% of the world’s waste, so environmentally friendly building materials are a necessity. Durra Panels are 100% biodegradable and don’t end up in landfill at the end of their useful life. Instead they can be used as compost or soil conditioner, which avoids contributing to the millions of tonnes of toxic building waste that end up in landfill across Australia each year.

The innovation of Durra Panel is its simplicity, working with nature and the natural carbon cycle by using a waste resource to produce a building material that can be returned to the earth at the end of its useful life.

Durra Panel presents a great opportunity to change the way the world thinks about building by choosing a healthy building material with a nature positive impact.

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Making sustainable choices when building is crucial in order to protect human health and the environment. Durra Panel presents the opportunity to build comfortable, healthy, safe and sustainable homes.

Durra Panel is a compressed straw panel used as an internal wall and ceiling lining. The engineered biomass panel core is made entirely from reclaimed wheat straw, a greatly wasted material that is a by-product of annual wheat harvesting. Durra Panel has been in continuous production in Australia for 70 years and is now at the forefront of nature positive manufacturing.

Durra Panel is manufactured in Bendigo, Victoria using agricultural waste – straw – from crop growing sourced from farmers within 100km of the manufacturing facility. This straw is abundantly available and is renewable with each annual harvest without further land use.

Durra Panel is produced by a unique manufacturing process using no glues or resins in the panel core. The Durra Panel machine uses only heat and pressure to release a natural binding agent, lignin, within the straw and form the panel core. This manufacturing process uses only electricity and has an incredibly low embodied energy.

Durra Panel is made to order to the required dimensions and finishes, ready to install and needing no specialty tradespeople. This results in much less waste being produced both at the manufacturing facility and on-site, compared to approximately 30% of traditional building materials being wasted on building sites. Durra Panel is easily reused due to its modular nature or is 100% biodegradable and can be shredded to be used as compost to contribute to future growth, creating no waste.

The simple manufacturing process produces a material that is 99.9% free from VOCs and can create spaces that embody an extraordinary natural feeling while providing healthy living and working environments.

As well as being an incredibly sustainable building material, Durra Panel is not a performance compromise. The tightly compressed panel core naturally provides additional benefits to create better performing and more comfortable spaces. Durra Panel is extremely versatile and is used in a variety of industry projects needing high performing Acoustics (such as theatres and sound stages), Fire Resistance (such as defense and industrial facilities), Thermal (such as ice rinks and office spaces) and Durability (such as sports centres and schools).

Durra Panel is an innovative yet simple solution to meet a range of performance requirements, all sustainably provided within one product. Durra Panel has been used in walls and ceilings of residential homes for 70 years, delivering premium comfort and safety features to Australian homes for the long life of the panel.

The performance benefits of Durra Panel are a by-product of the incredibly sustainable manufacturing process which allows for efficient use of resources and installation processes. With traditional materials requiring a system of multiple products, Durra Panel presents as the more sustainable, economical choice.

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Durra Panel is 99.9 per cent free from VOCs and creates healthy spaces connected to nature. Durra Panel captures and stores carbon for a long life within commercial, industrial and residential buildings.

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Originating in Sweden, a compressed straw panel was developed as a practical solution to enhance thermal insulation for walls and ceilings. With a simple yet innovative technique, Swedish engineers compressed natural fibres, like wheat and rice straw, to create durable panels that provide insulation, fire resistance and sound absorption.

The technology travelled from Sweden to the UK before being acquired by Australian company Stramit Board who set up manufacturing operations in Bendigo, Victoria. Although the product name later changed to Durra Panel, the original Bendigo factory remains in use and has been in continuous production ever since.

Utilising wheat straw stubble – a by-product of annual wheat harvesting – the Durra Panel manufacturing process has stayed true to its origins, using unique compression technology that forms the panel core and embeds the panel’s strength and thermal efficiency. The simplicity of the process means there’s no need for toxic adhesives or chemical binders, keeping the product as pure and safe as possible.

Although Durra Panel has been improved over the decades, the manufacturing process at its core is largely unchanged. The innovative yet simple process continues to produce a strong and versatile product that has remained a reliable building material choice in Australia for 70 years.

As well as being an incredibly sustainable building material, Durra Panel is not a performance compromise. The tightly compressed panel core naturally provides additional benefits to create better performing and more comfortable spaces. Durra Panel is extremely versatile and is used in a variety of industry projects needing high performing Acoustics (such as theatres and sound stages), Fire Resistance (such as defence and industrial facilities), Thermal (such as ice rinks and office spaces) and Durability (such as sports centres and schools).

Durra Panel is an innovative yet simple solution to meet a range of performance requirements, all sustainably provided within one product. Durra Panel has been used in walls and ceilings of residential homes for 70 years, delivering premium comfort and safety features to Australian homes for the long life of the panel.

For more information

Durra Panel

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Durra Panel utilises straw stubble, a by-product of annual wheat harvesting, to manufacture a compressed straw panel used in commercial and residential wall and ceiling systems.

Durra Panel uses a unique dry extrusion manufacturing process which requires no water or gas. Using only heat and pressure, a natural element within the straw is released and allows the panel core to self-bind without resins or binding agents.

This incredibly sustainable process allows Durra Panel to provide positive benefits for both humans and the environment, being 99.9% free from Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and is 100% biodegradable at the end of its useful life. Durra Panel creates spaces that embody an extraordinary natural feeling while providing healthy living and working environments.

At the forefront of sustainable building solutions, Durra Panel is redefining how the building and construction industry approaches biophilic design.

As a leader in eco-friendly construction materials, Durra Panel embodies the principles of integrating natural elements into our built environment to foster well-being, reduce stress, and boost creativity. Biophilic design, which draws on our innate connection to nature, acknowledges that incorporating natural materials and features into our spaces can have profound psychological and physiological benefits.

Derek Layfield, the Managing Director of Durra Panel has dedicated his working life to Durra Panel and being truly sustainable, believing that Biophilic Design is an integral part of a nourishing lifestyle:

“Humans have been designed to connect with nature. So to be surrounded by a straw panel. It feels good. It feels strong. It feels comfortable.”

The purpose of biophilic design is to create spaces that deliver benefits for both human health and the environment with Durra Panel doing just that, being 100% recyclable or 100% biodegradable at the end of its useful life, Durra Panel truly represents connectivity to the natural environment.

The innovation of Durra Panel is its simplicity, mimicking the natural carbon cycle by using a waste resource to produce a building material that can be returned to the earth at the end of its useful life. This represents a true cradle-to-cradle life cycle, working with nature to minimise waste, preserve natural resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Durra Panel is Australian-owned, with the manufacturing facility located in Bendigo, Victoria, chosen for its close proximity to the straw fields. Durra Panel sources all straw material from within 100km of the manufacturing facility through generational partnerships with local farmers, providing a secondary source of income by purchasing their waste straw.

Durra Panel has been in continuous production in Australia for 70 years, at the forefront of nature positive manufacturing by storing 8.5kg of carbon in every square metre of Durra Panel, locked away for the life of a building.

As well as possessing many sustainability benefits, Durra Panel is not a performance compromise. The densely compressed straw core provides excellent acoustic, fire resistant, thermal and durability benefits within the one product. The modular nature of Durra Panel allows for simple design and fast installation without the need for specialty tradespeople. Durra Panel lengths are made to order which minimises waste during manufacturing and on site. Durra Panel is extremely versatile and is used in a variety of applications in commercial, industrial and residential projects.

The built environment creates approximately 40% of the world’s waste. Environmentally friendly building materials are no longer a niche market but a necessity, with the industry moving strongly towards greener choices. Durra Panel presents an opportunity to change the way the world thinks about building.

For more information

Durra Panel

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