6 weeks, creative vision, and other people’s rubbish…

How to turn a waste of space into a Space Of Waste.

Space Of Waste wins an Architects’ Journal Small Projects Award!

WWW.WHYWASTE.ORG.UK are delighted to announce that our Space Of Waste building - made from other people’s rubbish - has been highly commended and came third in the competition beating hundreds of other entries in the process!

The awards will be followed by an exhibition of the nominated entries at the Building Centre, London from 6th March for six weeks.

The innovative architecture project, which aims to raise awareness of diverting waste material from landfill, was commissioned by WWW.WHYWASTE.ORG.UK, the free online waste exchange for businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber and was designed and built by postgraduate architecture Students from the University of Sheffield with structural calculations by Arup.

The project ran for six weeks from delivery of the brief to the temporary building’s opening to the public in Sheffield’s Tudor Square. Finding and using reclaimed and recycled material from the waste exchange set an interesting challenge for the young architects as form most definitely followed available material with exciting results. Some of the walls are made from the waste ‘skeleton’ sheets of birch plywood left over from the manufacture of children’s furniture while another is made from bailed blocks of polythene bags. The roof comprises 900 scrap carpet tiles otherwise destined to be dumped. Even the building’s lighting is recycled, with chandeliers made from cylindrical Perspex offcuts from a shop-display manufacturer.

Sarah Hunt, one of the architecture students involved in the project said, “The construction industry is one of the UK’s most wasteful. By taking an unconventional approach to the design process, we were forced to rethink the way in which materials can be used. Architects and designers have the potential to divert a lot of waste from landfill and create building and objects that are both beautiful and original.”

The building is designed to be demountable and is going on tour this spring to cities throughout the region raising awareness for the valuable resource currently misnamed ‘waste’. If you’d like Space of Waste where you are please get in touch.

Dan McTiernan, from WWW.WHYWASTE.ORG.UK, said: “We’re extremely proud of this award nomination. Space Of Waste clearly demonstrates that something beautiful can be made from what most of us perceive as rubbish. We hope that this will make other people aware that materials otherwise destined for landfill can be used to construct buildings which are low in cost and environmental impact, and high in aesthetic appeal.”

Architect Jeremy Till, whose Strawbale house / office in Islington was featured on Grand Designs, will be overseeing a group of Post Graduate architecture students from Sheffield University in the design of the Space of Waste building.

Geoff Stow, self-build expert and timber-frame construction lecturer at the Centre For Alternative Technology in Wales, is the Space of Waste Construction manager and will oversee construction students from Sheffield Hallam University and other volunteers in the build.

Arup have very generously offered their structural engineering services pro bono on the project.

The Green Building Store are helping Space of Waste in an advisory role and in the procurement of materials including glazing.

Social Enterprise, TP Trading are generously supplying the project with reclaimed timber along with The Wood Yard in Wakefield.

All offsite construction is being completed at the Women’s Construction Centre in Sheffield.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Space of Waste please contact Emma Hill

01274 487270