A British house was built with old duvets inside its walls and oyster shells on its exterior to show how everyday waste could be reused in construction | World News

A house in Brighton was built with some unlikely materials hidden in plain sight. Inside its walls were old duvets and discarded bedding, reused as insulation rather than sent to landfill. On the outside, oyster shells collected from a local restaurant were turned into experimental tiles designed to protect that insulation from the weather. The project was developed at the Brighton Waste House by researchers from the University of Brighton with Local Works Studio, as part of a wider attempt to find uses for waste generated close to construction sites.According to researchers at the University of Brighton, the restaurant supplying the shells discarded more than 50,000 of them each year, giving the researchers a plentiful material to work with. Some shells were used directly, while others were heated at around 900°C to make quicklime before being combined with crushed shell. The mixture was moulded and left to harden, producing tiles that became part of the building’s exterior.

How did researchers turn discarded oyster shells into building tiles

The University of Brighton team developed the tiles as part of a project exploring how waste materials could be reused in construction. The tiles were designed to remain on the outer surface of the Brighton Waste House, protecting insulation made from reused bedding and duvets. The project brought together the university team and Local Works Studio, a specialist working on material development. The oyster shells came from English’s restaurant in Brighton, which supplied shells that would otherwise have been discarded. The research record says the restaurant threw away more than 50,000 shells each year. Construction waste from the Preston Barracks development was also incorporated into the project, bringing together two different waste streams to create a new building material.The shells were prepared in different ways before being used as tiles. Some were used directly, while others were heated to create quick lime. The project record describes shells being burnt at about 900 degrees before being combined with crushed oyster shells, which acted as aggregate. The mixture was then pressed into silicone moulds and left for several days. After adding water, the mixture underwent a natural chemical reaction that made it hard. The resulting pieces were described as concrete tiles and were made using a process similar to traditional Roman concrete.

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Why were oyster shells considered for construction

Oyster shells are made up of more than 90% calcium carbonate, a material widely used in cement production. As part of the INTERREG SB&WRC programme, researchers explored whether waste materials found near construction sites could be reused for insulation and rain-screen external wall coverings in social housing. The idea was to keep local waste within the building process rather than simply discarding it. This was particularly relevant to shells, with the exhibition catalogue noting that the seafood industry discards millions of tonnes of them each year.

How a Brighton project turned oyster waste into a building prototype

The oyster-shell tiles reached an audience beyond Brighton. Samples were exhibited in Adelaide, South Australia, in 2018 as part of an exhibition linked to the ‘Unmaking Waste conference’. The event brought attention to the project’s attempt to connect waste, design and construction through a prototype. The Brighton work was led by Duncan Baker-Brown with Nick Gant, alongside collaborators including Local Works Studio. The focus was on creating an unusual tile and showing how discarded materials could be given another role within buildings.