In addition to being treasure, one man’s trash can also apparently be another man’s 1,100-square-foot environmentally conscious home.
Built up and out and every way in between over about 10 years, the Up-Cycle House in the town of Blackheath, New South Wales is the brainchild of Australian architect Alexander Symes.
Using discarded materials he sourced from construction sites, dumpsters and the side of the road, Symes was able to transform the ‘70s-era three-bedroom into a sustainable and functional home that has an open-plan living space, two full bathrooms and solar panels on the roof.
Featuring up-cycled pieces like floors made from mismatched tiles and discarded timber, a sliding door made from glass samples and scrap hardwood and a room divider crafted from a large Jenga set, the construction in the home is far from uniform, but as you can see it works nonetheless.
Already influenced by Scandinavian design, Symes says he adopted the philosophy of “if ain’t broke, don’t fix it; if it is broke, fix it with recycled materials” during the building process.
“Each sustainable intervention was an opportunity to understand an element of the construction industry’s waste and to explore if it was commercially viable to re-use these products to create functional delight,” he said.
Originally worth $200,000 AUD, the Up-Cycle House is on the market for an undisclosed price.
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
