Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Puglia Italy - Matera
Italy • 8 days, 7 nights
Southern Italy: Castles, Caves & Coastal Treasures in Puglia
from
Turkmenistan Gates of Hell Darvaza crater
Turkmenistan • 10 days, 9 nights
Turkmenistan & the Gates of Hell
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Nagi Gumba
Top floor of castle.
Kifune Castle
 The front of Asian Garden Mall.
Asian Garden Mall
The cable car is one of two in Europe that crosses open ocean.
Dursey Island Cable Car
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
A slice of cake is the perfect coda to a meal at Piatto Romano.
Piatto Romano
Crunchy and supremely satisfying, suppli might be the ultimate street food snack.
Supplizio
The pedigreed pistachios here are from Bronte.
Gelateria dei Gracchi
This tiny hole-in-the-wall serves one of the world’s most magnificent sandwiches.
Er Buchetto
Seafood features prominently on the menu.
Dakar NOLA
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Sheep at Colonial Williamsburg on a sunny day.
Little Lambs, Big Back Story
about 11 hours ago
View of Santa Monica Beach and Los Angeles in afternoon sun. Aerial view from above the pacific ocean water.
Why Did Celebrity Preacher Aimee Semple McPherson Mysteriously Disappear?
1 day ago
The glass-ceilinged atrium of the Bradbury Building was inspired by Edward Bellamy’s utopian literature.
The Bradbury Building Featured in ‘Blade Runner’ Was Inspired by a 19th-Century Utopian Novel
2 days ago
Berza gitana is one of the exemplary dishes of Gitano cuisine.
How Gitano Cuisine Found a Home in Andalusia
3 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United Kingdom England Brighton Brighton Waste House

Brighton Waste House

This concept building is the UK's first attempt at making a permanent structure of nothing but trash.

Brighton, England

Added By
Eric Grundhauser
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
Brighton Waste House   arts.brighton.ac.uk
Brighton Waste House   arts.brighton.ac.uk
Brighton Waste House   arts.brighton.ac.uk
Brighton Waste House   arts.brighton.ac.uk
Brighton Waste House   arts.brighton.ac.uk
The Waste House at night.   linkogecko / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Built on the campus of the University of Brighton, the squat structure known as the Waste House is an almost joyous attempt to create a whole building using recycled, thrown away, or found items to make a lasting message about sustainability. 

Created by volunteers and undergraduate students, the house is literally full of trash. Built on a foundation of waste blockwork (compressed clay and stone flakes) and around a frame made of plywood recovered from a nearby construction site, the two story house is not actively inhabited but is meant to be a "‘living laboratory’ for ecological architectural design." The walls are filled with all manner of garbage as insulation such as tens of thousands of disposable toothbrushes, old VHS tapes, DVD cases, and floppy disks, and over two tons of waste denim. The exterior of the building is covered in over 2,000 used carpet tiles which also aid in the insulation process. In the end, a full 85% of the house is complete rubbish.

The creators of the Brighton Waste House fully admit that smaller structures have been built from waste in the past in similar projects, but they fully intend for their structure to be a permanent building that can pass the stringent codes of any other construction project. The space is currently used as a sustainable design studio and environmental event venue. Many of the building materials are also visible inside the structure reminding all visitors that they are surrounded by garbage.     

Related Tags

Eccentric Homes Architectural Oddities Architecture Homes

Know Before You Go

The outside of the waste house can be seen at any time, however, it sits somewhat forlornly surrounded by a high fence that restricts the view.

 

 

 

Community Contributors

Added By

EricGrundhauser

Edited By

hrnick, jooniur, linkogecko

  • hrnick
  • jooniur
  • linkogecko

Published

June 27, 2014

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/university-brighton-waste-house-built-with-85-percent-junk.html
  • http://www.dezeen.com/2014/06/19/waste-house-by-bbm-architects-is-uks-first-permanent-building-made-from-rubbish/
  • http://inhabitat.com/waste-house-uks-first-permanent-carbon-negative-building-made-from-trash/brighton-waste-house-10/?extend=1
  • https://tools.wmflabs.org/geohack/geohack.php?pagename=Waste_House&params=50.823547_N_-0.134809_E_type:landmark_region:GB
Brighton Waste House
Grand Parade
Lewes Road
Brighton, England
United Kingdom
50.823519, -0.134802
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

The Royal Pavilion

Brighton, England

miles away

Quadrophenia Alley

Brighton, England

miles away

Old Time Amusements

Brighton, England

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Brighton

Brighton

England

Places 17
Stories 2

Nearby Places

The Royal Pavilion

Brighton, England

miles away

Quadrophenia Alley

Brighton, England

miles away

Old Time Amusements

Brighton, England

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Brighton

Brighton

England

Places 17
Stories 2

Related Places

  • Castel Meur

    Plougrescant, France

    Castel Meur

    A small house sits between two huge rocks, with its back to the sea.

  • Interior of 575 Wandsworth

    London, England

    575 Wandsworth Road

    What started as a way to address damp basement walls turned into a house filled with intricate hand-carved designs.

  • Barbara Hutton’s Japanese palace, in the shadow of the volcano Popocatépetl.

    Jiutepec, Mexico

    Camino Real Sumiya

    The tragic heiress Barbara Woolworth Hutton built her seventh husband this Japanese-inspired palace in Mexico.

  • Areguá, Paraguay

    Castillo Carlota Palmerola

    An unlikely neo-Gothic castle in the Paraguayan countryside.

  • Row of old houses with the narrow Kleine Trippenhuis or “Little Trip House” on Kloveniersburgwal canal.

    Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Kleine Trippenhuis

    One of Amsterdam's narrowest houses is located right across the canal from its widest.

  • The Casa Auto.

    Pergamino, Argentina

    Casa Auto

    A father built this one-of-a-kind house in the shape of his son's race car.

  • The Upside-Down House in Trassenheide.

    Trassenheide, Germany

    Upside-Down House of Trassenheide

    The first (but not only) upside-down house in Germany.

  • Los Angeles, California

    Mosaic Tile House

    Rainbow-hued local gem in Venice.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.