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    Eight interiors that feature reclaimed and recycled materials

    For our latest lookbook, Dezeen has selected eight examples of interiors that were created with reclaimed and recycled materials, including a restaurant in Bangalore and a brick house in Ghent.

    Recent decades have seen more awareness and reflection on environmental and sustainable issues both inside and outside the design world, leading a number of designers and architects to choose sustainable design for their projects.
    From the use of unwanted items to the application of reclaimed bricks and recycled plastics, the eight projects in this lookbook present ways in which designers have rediscovered the value of waste.
    This is the latest in Dezeen’s lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring sunny yellow interiors, beds that have been built into interiors and tiled kitchen worktops.
    Photo by Ishita SitwalaCircus Canteen, India, by Multitude of Sins

    Bangalore studio Multitude of Sins designed this restaurant interior, which was shortlisted in the sustainable interior category of Dezeen Awards 2022, to showcase a collage of unwanted objects.
    The salvaged objects were sourced locally from a donation drive in a few weeks. The studio categorised them, then organised them into a colourful, stylish interior.
    Find out more about the Circus Canteen ›

    Kamikatsu Zero Waste Centre, Japan, by Hiroshi Nakamura
    The Kamikatsu Zero Waste Centre (above and main image) was created as an eco-friendly community and educational space for recycling activities, and features a facade made of 700 windows donated by the local community.
    Architect Hiroshi Nakamura attached harvesting containers from a mushroom factory to the wall to be used as bookshelves. Unwanted objects were also collected from abandoned houses, previous government buildings and schools in the local area.
    Find out more about the Kamikatsu Zero Waste Centre ›
    Photo by Sam A HarrisSilo, UK, by Nina+Co
    The dining tables of this zero-waste restaurant in London consist of flecked recycled-plastic tops and sustainably-sourced ash wood legs, with mycelium pendant lamps dangling above.
    The dining space also features a long bar counter made from recycled plastic packaging.
    Find out more about Silo zero-waste restaurant ›
    Photo by Magdalena GruberUrselmann Interior’s office, Germany, by Urselmann Interior
    The renovation of the ceiling in this Düsseldorf office was completed using poplar wood sourced from a tree felled in the nearby city of Krefeld. The studio preserved the existing wooden and terrazzo flooring.
    The refurbishment of the office, which is the studio’s own, also included the use of biodegradable materials, glueless joinery and cellulose-based cladding.
    Find out more about Urselmann Interior’s office ›
    Photo by Syam SreesylamWendy House, India, by Earthscape Studio
    This vaulted residence in Bangalore, which sits among eight acres of dense forests, was covered with recycled mudga tiles. Its glass walls were framed with recycled rods.
    Earthscape Studio also constructed the building with sithu kal bricks, a traditional technique that is currently not in use. This design revisited the neglected technique to help bring work opportunities to the local community.
    Find out more about the Wendy House ›
    Photo by Stijn BollaertGjG House, Belgium, by BLAF Architecten
    Built without supporting interior walls, this house was constructed with reclaimed bricks and features a curved form and brick bonding.
    BLAF Architecten designed the unusual curvilinear walls in order for the house to fit in between surrounding trees on the site in Ghent.
    Find out more about GjG House ›
    Photo by José Hevia10K House, Spain, by Takk
    In the context of global climate change and the energy crisis, 10K House was built on a material budget of only 10,000 euros and features rooms built inside each other to maximise insulation.
    Spanish Architecture studio Takk used recycled white table legs to lift one of the interior rooms in the Barcelona apartment, creating space for water pipes and electrical fittings without the extra cost of adding wall grooves.
    Find out more about 10K House ›
    Photo by Agnese SanvitoRylett House, UK, Studio 30 Architects
    Studio 30 Architects transformed an old carpenter’s bench into a kitchen island for this London house extension, which includes a living, kitchen and dining area.
    The extension was built on the site of a previous conservatory and overlooks the garden through a timber window decorated with plants.
    Find out more about Rylett House ›
    This is the latest in Dezeen’s lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring sunny yellow interiors, beds that have been built into interiors and tiled kitchen worktops.

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    Nagami 3D-prints recycled plastic to mimic melting glaciers in Spanish boutique

    Spanish design studio Nagami has completed a shop interior for sustainable clothing brand Ecoalf near Madrid that is almost entirely 3D printed from recycled plastic.

    Walls, shelves and display tables inside the store in the Las Rozas Village designer outlet are made from 3.3 tonnes of repurposed plastic waste, sourced mainly from hospitals and used to create transluscent surfaces that resemble melting glaciers.
    Nagami has 3D-printed the interior of Ecoalf’s boutique near MadridAdditive manufacturing specialist Nagami created the plastic panels using a robotic arm equipped with a custom-built extruder that can print complex 3D forms, with the aim of uniting design and technology to raise awareness about the climate crisis.
    “We wanted to highlight the melting of the polar glaciers due to climate change,” Nagami co-founder Manuel Jiménez García told Dezeen. “So the walls are meant to represent a glacier that is cracking.”
    “The 3D-sculpted texture is a reference to the way the wind and snow erode the ice over time,” he added. “The idea was to recreate the sensation you might have when walking inside a glacier.”

    The interior was designed to resemeble a melting glacierThe Ecoalf store is the first fully 3D-printed interior completed by Nagami. And García believes it may be the first in the world to be fully 3D-printed using recycled plastic.
    The project was completed with a very short lead time of just three months from design to installation.
    Almost all of the surfaces are made from recycled plasticAccording to García, the undulating forms that cover almost all of the store’s internal surfaces pushed the robotic printing technology to its limit.
    “The machines needed to literally dance to create all of these different angles,” the designer explained. “Traditional 3D printing uses layers. But we can change the angle of the robot to make the kinds of curved and wavy forms you see in this project.”
    The walls are divided into panels and joined using connectors that form part of the printed structure. This meant that the tolerances needed to be very precise so that the components can slot together neatly.

    Nagami’s first collection features 3D-printed chairs by Zaha Hadid Architects

    On the floor, natural stone tiles feature veins reminiscent of cracking ice to enhance the feeling of walking on a glacier.
    All of the components used for the interior can be disassembled and reused or recycled for future projects. The plastic itself is almost infinitely recyclable, losing just one per cent of its structural performance with each new use, Nagami claims.
    The shop is located in the Las Rozas Village designer outletBoth companies share an interest in sustainable manufacturing, with Ecoalf creating clothing, footwear and accessories using recycled materials including plastic bottles, discarded fishing nets, used tyres and post-industrial wool and cotton.
    Similarly, Nagami works with recycled plastic to create furniture, sculptures, interiors and architectural elements as part of a closed-loop production process.
    The studio’s previous projects include several window displays for Dior, as well as a mobile toilet cubicle called The Throne and a collection of 3D-printed chairs by designers including Ross Lovegrove and Zaha Hadid Architects.
    Nagami used special robotic arms to 3D-print the panels. Photo by NagamiDuring the coronavirus pandemic, Nagami also made use of its quick-fire production process to 3D print face shields for medical staff.
    “We see 3D printing as one of the most sustainable forms of production,” García explained. “You don’t have to produce stock, it doesn’t create any fumes and it’s very versatile so you can create things on demand.”
    “In the future as we expand we want to have production sites around the world making things locally and reducing our carbon footprint even further.”
    All photography is by Alfonso-Quiroga unless otherwise stated.

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    Ace & Tate uses colourful terrazzo made from local plastic waste throughout Antwerp store

    Amsterdam-based eyewear company Ace & Tate’s shop in Antwerp has interiors clad with terrazzo made with colourful chips of recycled plastic sourced locally by Dutch startup Plasticiet. Ace & Tate collaborated with sustainable materials company Plasticiet for the shop in Belgium as part of their push to become more sustainable. The brand has pledged to […] More