UK's First Cardboard Building

United Kingdom’s first cardboard building.

Buro Happold Engineers collaborated with Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture to create the single-story, 20- by 50-foot (6 x 15 m) structure, which will serve as a meeting space and teaching tool for the town’s after-school club. The cardboard building is constructed largely of honeycomb-sandwiched panels and tubes, which serve as support columns, demonstrating that cardboard is a versatile and stalwart construction material. The oft-presumed threat of fire is thwarted by natural properties of the dense material, causing it to react to flame much as solid timber does; the cardboard is also treated with a fire-retardant and waterproofing varnish. Ninety percent of the materials in this building were recycled and, at the end of its anticipated 20-year life span, 90% will be recyclable. For more information, look online at

www.cardboardschool.co.uk.