Reclaimed — how to do it

I loved leafing through new book Reclaimed — New homes from old materials by Penny Craswell.

It’s an inspiring collection of homes made from salvaged and repurposed materials showcasing design ingenuity and award-winning architecture from across the globe.

Penny was kind enough to answer some questions for me about the book:

• What made you want to write about this topic?

It’s easy to feel powerless about the climate crisis when you are just one person, but everyone can do something to help and construction waste is a huge contributor to landfill. I want to show that there are plenty of options for people looking to reuse materials rather than always buying new — and that the results are often unique and beautiful.

• Do you feel that if developers/homeowners more broadly were more aware of the benefits of recycling materials then they would opt for this more often? Are there many misconceptions of recycling out there?

Many of the homes in this book are by architect/owners who feel more able to push the boundaries when using recycled materials on their own homes, but the more this happens, the more likely it is to become widely accepted. There are lots of incredible new materials made from waste like plastic and fabric, being launched but not enough interior designers and…