Here at The Optimist Daily, we love sharing architecture projects that put circularity front and center. The latest one we’ve come across involves architecture firm BakerBrown Studio, which plans to repurpose discarded lobster shells, oyster shells, and wine bottle corks to build a sustainable pavilion in East Sussex, England.
The pavilion is part of the Glyndebourne Opera, a building that’s part of an English country house dating back to the 16th century, and whose owners hold sustainability close to their hearts. They have already installed a 67-meter-high wind turbine that powers the site with renewable energy.
The idea behind the new project is to collect food waste, such as oyster and lobster shells, throughout this year’s opera season for it to be eventually processed into exterior wall tiles. What’s more, cork collected from the many wine bottles opened during the season will also be collected and bound with mycelium from mushrooms to create bricks used in the interior walls.
To further minimize the building’s carbon footprint, the designers will salvage diseased ash trees and use local chalk and waste glass to build the pavilion’s structure. Mycelium will also be used to build the structure’s insulation panels.
Plus, to ensure that the materials can be recycled and reused in the future, the design allows for easy deconstruction. The project is due to take off in September and reach completion in March 2022. Just yesterday, we showed how Parisian apartments are demonstrating the efficacy of hemp-based insulation. Projects like that, and this pavilion, are important launching points for demonstrating the feasibility of the sustainable design.
