A UK-based sustainable architecture firm recently built a modern house using unusual recycled materials — rubble from a fire-destroyed bungalow.
The firm, BakerBrown Studio, named the innovative and mindfully-built structure New Streat Hill Farmhouse. The house was constructed in South Downs, a UK national park known for picturesque chalk hills. It's also the former site of a 1950s bungalow destroyed by a fire in 2017.
To construct the home, the firm searched through the charred nine-acre site for salvageable waste materials that could be repurposed. According to a Dezeen profile, the firm was motivated by circular economy principles and a desire to reduce environmental impact.
"The landscape itself provided the material for the building," studio founder Duncan Baker-Brown told Dezeen. "Whether that's a standing coppiced woodland, chalk and clay — all the materials around were used, including the burned-out remnants of the old building."
The studio used salvaged burnt bricks and rubble from the destroyed structure to build window sills and external wall coverings. The house's glue-laminated timber structure and three-story staircase were constructed from timber sourced from naturally fallen trees. The local trees were killed by an invasive fungus called ash dieback, according to Dezeen.
The hill house's walls are finished with plaster crafted from chalk and clay natural to the site, adding to the structure's charm.
By reusing "destroyed" building materials and tapping into local natural resources, the hill house has a lower environmental impact than many new constructions. Building with recycled materials and natural resources helps curb the need for resource-intensive manufacturing processes like those required for steel or concrete production.
Using fallen timber also avoids cutting down trees for building materials, preventing pollution and deforestation. Prioritizing natural options is also more planet-friendly than using popular construction materials vinyl-based siding, mined minerals and stone, and other harmful building options.
Natural materials like downed timber, clay, and chalk are strong yet biodegradable, allowing them to break down naturally when the house is eventually returned to the Earth — hopefully a long time from now.
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Totally 💯 When designing and building the New Streat Hill House, the firm worked closely with the park's planning authorities to maintain the integrity of the park's natural environment. BakerBrown Studio told Dezeen they wanted the structure to resemble two barns sitting on a meadow when viewed from a distance — so much so that a portion of the structure has a meadow-planted roof to disguise it when viewed from afar.
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Baker-Brown says the final design is a testament to his studio's core design principle: "There's no such thing as waste."
He told Dezeen: "This project exemplifies the approach that we have as a practice, where you look at what is already on site and the story in the surroundings, and you use those materials before you import from elsewhere."
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