Bermuda Post

Thursday, Mar 23, 2023

An Award-Winning Prefab Cork House Pops Up on the Banks of the River Thames

An Award-Winning Prefab Cork House Pops Up on the Banks of the River Thames

This 475-square-foot home in Eton, England, is made almost entirely of reconstituted waste cork-a by-product of the cork industry in Portugal.

When architect Matthew Barnett Howland finished finessing the design of his experimental Cork house, he transported the specially cut cork bricks to construct it in the back garden of his family home, a former mill house on the banks of the River Thames.

The open-plan structure has five pyramid-like roofs, and it’s built using an ingenious tongue-and-groove system-no glue or mortar is needed to hold together the 1,268 blocks that form the 1.5-foot-thick walls. "It’s like a plant-based LEGO system," says Barnett Howland.



A covered bay serves as an outdoor living space and an antechamber for the house.



The exposed solid cork blocks are gentle to the touch, and they even smell good. The acoustics are soft and calm, and the house only requires heating on the coldest days. The stove is fed with logs harvested from on-site tree maintenance.

The space is subdivided by structural CLT spruce insets, and each of the five volumes serves its own purpose. The plan includes an exposed patio, a kitchen, a bathroom, a dining space, and a bedroom at the end-the most private space in the house. Although the cork is naturally quite dark, the home’s five skylights and large windows provide plenty of natural light.

The house is a prototype, and Barnett Howland doesn’t live it in full time. "Our family believes in multigenerational living—my grandmother lived with us when I was a child, and now my mother lives with us-so it is envisaged that the house will facilitate this approach to family life," he says.

"Cork is an insulating material," explains the architect. "It smells quite woody and smoky, and it has very calming acoustic properties." The family particularly enjoy its cosy atmosphere-especially on chillier days, when they can fire up the wood-burning stove.



Black-stained Accoya is used for the home’s structural beams, windows, and doors. The space features bespoke furniture made from cross-laminated spruce, and handmade stools crafted from English pippy oak.



The bedroom receives morning light from a large window and a ventilation panel that opens to the garden.

The kitchen and bathroom are decked out in untreated brass, which can be recycled at any point, like most of the house. The cork has been left untreated, and the structure is fitted with sprinklers in case of fires. "We were interested in thinking through the idea of a building’s lifecycle, and to work with a bio-renewable material," says Barnett Howland.



The bathroom, featuring a brass sink and bathtub, is a playful space that contrasts with the rest of the house.

The low-carbon home, designed with architect Dido Milne in partnership with Oliver Wilton of the Bartlett School of Architecture, recently won the RIBA Stephen Lawrence Prize for offering up "a highly innovative, low-carbon solution with a wide variety of applications from mass housing to emergency shelters". It was also shortlisted for the Stirling Prize-the annual award for the best building in Britain.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Bermuda Post
Close
0:00
0:00
Donald Trump arrested – Twitter goes wild with doctored pictures
NYPD is setting up barricades outside Manhattan Criminal Court ahead of Trump arrest.
Credit Suisse's Scandalous History Resulted in an Obvious Collapse - It's time for regulators who fail to do their job to be held accountable and serve as an example by being behind bars.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman tours potential migrant housing in Rwanda as asylum deal remains mired in legal challenges
Paris Rioting vs Macron anti democratic law
'Sexual Fantasy' Assignment At US School Outrages Parents
Credit Suisse to borrow $54 billion from Swiss central bank
Russian Hackers Preparing New Cyber Assault Against Ukraine
Jeremy Hunt insists his Budget will get young parents and over-50s back into work
If this was in Tehran, Moscow or Hong Kong
Nashville police officer, and a female driver shooting one another
TRUMP: "Standing before you today, I am the only candidate who can make this promise: I will prevent World War III."
Mexican President Claims Mexico is Safer than the U.S.
A brief banking situation report
Lady bites police officer and gets instantly reaction
We are witnessing widespread bank fails and the president just gave a 5 min speech then walked off camera.
Donald Trump's asked by Tucker Carlson question on if the U.S. should support regime change in Russia?.
'No relation to the American SVB': India's SVC Bank acts to calm depositors amid brand name confusion.
Good news: The U.S. government is now guaranteeing all deposits, held by, Silicon Valley Bank, and the funds are available as of today
Silicon Valley Bank exec was Lehman Brothers CFO
In a potential last-ditch effort, HSBC is considering a rescue deal to save Silicon Valley Bank UK from insolvency
BBC Director General, Tim Davie, has apologized, but not resigned, yet, following the disruption of sports programmes over the weekend
Elon Musk Is Planning To Build A Town In Texas For His Employees
The Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse effect is spreading around the world, affecting startup companies across the globe
City officials in Berlin announced on Thursday that all swimmers at public pools will soon be allowed to swim topless
Fitness scam
Market Chaos as USDC Loses Peg to USD after $3.3 Billion Reserves Held by Silicon Valley Bank Closed.
A primitive judge in Australia sparked outrage when he told a breastfeeding woman to leave his courtroom for being “a distraction"
Barcelona is feeling the heat as they face corruption charges over payments to former vice-president of Spain's referees' committee, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira
Senator Tom Cotton: If the Mexican Government Won’t Stop Cartels from Killing Americans, Then U.S. Government Should
Banking regulators close SVB, the largest bank failure since the financial crisis
The unelected UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, an immigrant himself, defends new controversial crackdown on illegal migration
Old clip of Bill Gates saying Ukraine is a big, fat, corrupt sinkhole is going viral
Man’s penis amputated by mistake after he’s wrongly diagnosed with a tumour
In a major snub to Downing Street's Silicon Valley dreams, UK chip giant Arm has dealt a serious blow to the government's economic strategy by opting for a US listing
How do stolen goods end up on Amazon, eBay and Facebook Marketplace?
It's the question on everyone's lips: could a four-day workweek be the future of employment?
Is Gold the Ultimate Safe Haven Asset in Times of Uncertainty?
Spain officials quit over trains that were too wide for tunnels...
Don Lemon, a CNN anchor, has provided a list of five areas that he believes the black community needs to address.
Hello. Here is our news digest from London.
Corruption and Influence Buying Uncovered in International Mainstream Media: Investigation Reveals Growing Disinformation Mercenaries
Givenchy Store in New York Robbed of $50,000 in Merchandise
European MP Clare Daly condemns US attack on Nord Stream
Former U.S. President Carter will spend his remaining time at home and receive hospice care instead of medication
Tucker Carlson called Trump a 'demonic force'
US Joins 15 NATO Nations in Largest Space Data Collection Initiative in History
White House: No ETs over the United States
U.S. Jet Shoots Down Flying Object Over Canada
Being a Tiktoker might be expensive…
×