Using recycled materials in construction can help you save money and the environment. It also creates one-of-a-kind dwellings. Recycled materials can make structures more robust, more efficient, and less expensive to develop than new materials in some circumstances.
Charitable groups have utilised plastic two-litre soda bottles to construct shelters, schools, and other structures in impoverished countries. For example, a school in the Philippines is made of used plastic bottles filled with adobe. They’re less costly and three times as sturdy as concrete.
That doesn’t imply recycled dwellings have to appear like recycled houses. Some of them, such as a house made from repurposed bricks in the Netherlands, blend in well with their surroundings. Depending on the owner’s preferences, they might be sleek and modern or colourful and boho.
While building a complete home entirely of recycled materials may not be realistic for everyone, there are several methods to incorporate salvaged or repurposed materials into the design of a home. Stores like Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore shops, for example, sell donated construction components including doors, windows, cabinets, and fixtures at reduced costs.
Do you need some motivation? Continue reading to explore five remarkable houses made from recycled materials.
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1. The Governor – Rotterdam, the Netherlands
According to Dezeen, this mansion created by Architectuur Maken appears brand new, yet its bricks are composed of 15 tonnes of garbage, debris and recycled materials, including ceramics, glass, and clay. StoneCycling, a Dutch firm, collected waste items from throughout the country, crushed them, and moulded them into bricks. The terrace is formed by joining the tall and narrow structure, which is a little over 4.5 metres wide and about 9 metres deep, to the two apartments on either side. Each level of the four-story house, which has a 120-square-metre layout, is intended to be utilised as a single room.
2. Cabana Floripa – Florianopolis, Brazil
According to the builder, this treehouse on the Brazilian island of Santa Catarina was constructed from the remains of destroyed dwellings. Glass bottles, painted timber beams, and ceramic tiles were employed as building recycled materials. It may be rented on Airbnb for an average of $77 per night. The cottage features wifi, air conditioning, and cable TV and can sleep up to five people.
3. Collage House – Mumbai, India
According to S+PS Architects in Arch Daily, this Mumbai mansion is designed around a central courtyard and has a façade formed from the doors and windows of destroyed city dwellings. Other recycled elements used in the residence include 100-year-old rescued stone columns, flooring fashioned from ancient building timbers, fabric waste, and waste slivers of cut stone. The five-bedroom, five-bathroom home contains staff quarters, an underground rainwater retention tank, a study, a rooftop pavilion, and a rooftop garden, and was designed to accommodate four generations of a family.
4. The Bottle Houses – Cap-Egmont, Prince Edward Island
Édouard Arsenault created these fairytale-like castles out of almost 25,000 recycled glass bottles collected from throughout the town. All three buildings took around four years to complete. They are now available to the public as a tourist attraction. Arsenault constructed a six-gabled home, a tavern, and a church. The chapel is the most elaborate structure, including an altar and seats. He died in 1984, before finishing the chapel’s final features.
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