Recyclable Private Home Crafted in Solid Cork Blocks

“What if we could replace the complexity of the wall with a single, solid, bio-renewable material?” asked Barnett Howland.

Cork House is a low-rise residential prototype completed in 2019 that explores whether the complexity of contemporary wall construction can be replaced by a single, solid bio-renewable material. Designed by Matthew Barnett Howland, Dido Milne and Oliver Wilton, the project builds on several years of research into the Cork Construction Kit developed in collaboration with UCL. Expanded cork blocks manufactured from forestry by-products form both the primary structure and building envelope. The blocks are CNC-milled and assembled using dry joints without adhesives, creating a prefabricated kit-of-parts system that can be dismantled and reused. Lightweight cork units were installed by hand using simple jigs and tension straps, while complementary components including engineered timber elements, bespoke timber windows and doors were prefabricated off site. The structure sits on removable steel screw pile foundations and CLT decks, enabling minimal ground disturbance and full reversibility. By replacing multi-layered envelope assemblies with a mono-material system that stores carbon, Cork House demonstrates how architectural form, structural logic and material performance can be aligned through simplicity while supporting a whole-life approach to low-carbon construction.