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News > The House that Maps Built

The House that Maps Built

  18/11/2008
London-based architects, Amenity Space, have received international praise for their unique recycled building blocks made entirely out of disused maps. The Map Compression Block - which stacks Ordnance Survey maps on top of each other to create a heat efficient and strong building brick - was honoured at the San Francisco Urban Re:Vision Awards. The award recognised the project's innovative approach to producing an eco-friendly and sustainable building material.

map blocksNicky Kirk, a Director at Amenity Space comments, "The project began when we started talking to Ordnance Survey about a programme for recycling discarded maps; the building block idea really grew from there. The bricks we've created not only have greater density than a 250-mm thick concrete block but also have similar strength."

 

The project works by drilling holes through the centre of each map, which is then placed over a series of steel rods fixed to a timber rail. The sides are then clad with a fire and waterproof layer and the maps compressed until they make up a solid panel. Nicky continues. "At the moment, 12,000 maps are sitting in our offices and Ordnance Survey is able to offer us a reliable source. With people keen to look at environmentally friendly building processes, the map block could represent a sustainable solution."

 

Gill Blake, from Ordnance Survey's marketing department, comments: "Maps are incredibly versatile, but we never expected someone to turn them into building blocks! This is a great example of recycling in action, and I'd like to congratulate the Amenity Space team for having their work recognised with this award."

 

Caption: Map Compression Block (http://www.mapblock.org/ )



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Read more about:  maps 
Supplier: Ordnance Survey

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