The eco-workspace will be erected on the University of Brighton’s campus, according to a report in The Guardian. Construction materials will be sourced from waste and surplus material from local building sites, recycling centres and outfits like Freegle.

Waste timber will form the walls with ply ‘cassettes’ containing waste material slotted inbetween the timber structure. These cassettes will be removable so that new building technologies can be added easily.

The building will alo be equipped with solar panels and a heat recovery system. The university’s headquarters for sustainable design will be housed upstairs, and throughout its lifespan it will be used as a pilot for prototype construction systems, components and technologies.

Its design has been dreamt up by Brighton-based architect Duncan Baker-Brown, who said the purpose of the project was to demonstrate that there is “no such thing as waste, just stuff in the wrong place”.

“There is a huge pile of construction waste that’s building up in this country and to ignore is quite frankly sinful,” he said.

“We have decided to focus on how to reuse waste material on a real-life building for a number of reasons, not least because we know how important it is to reuse and recycle from the point of view of the environment.”

The building will be known as ‘The house that Kevin built’ and is named after Europe’s first prefabricated house made entirely out of waste and organic material, also designed by Baker-Brown.

Work on the house will begin in November and should be completed by May 2013.

Maxine Perella

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