A hotel in a former military barracks and an urban apartment created on a budget feature in our latest lookbook of intricate interiors that use reclaimed materials.
Reclaimed materials encompass anything salvaged from buildings, products or other structures that are repurposed by architects and designers.
While these materials are often used to cut the financial or carbon cost of a project, sometimes, they are simply applied to interiors to create visually interesting spaces.
From Spain to India, the following eight interiors highlight just some of the many ways that practitioners are using reclaimed materials around the world.
This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring home saunas, Mexico City restaurants and living rooms with blockwork walls.
Photo by Richard Gaston
La Casita, UK, by Juli Bolaños-Durman
La Casita is the Edinburgh flat of Costa Rican artist Juli Bolaños-Durman, which she renovated with local studio Architecture Office.
The flat is characterised by reused, reclaimed and offcut materials that were transformed into bespoke architectural elements, including a unique timber kitchen.
Find out more about La Casita ›
Photo by Asier Rua
Sancal showroom, Spain, by Lucas Muñoz
The aluminium undersides of existing flooring plates were turned into wall panels at this Madrid showroom, created for furniture brand Sancal within the city’s 1966 O’Donnell 34 building.
When converting the office, Spanish designer Lucas Muñoz reused all the materials from the original space that could not be recycled.
“The office’s modular material approach allowed us to dismantle and re-consider each piece as a potential intervention element,” Muñoz told Dezeen.
“Very little demolition was required, meaning recovered pieces could be evaluated according to their impact.”
Find out more about this Sancal showroom ›
Photo by Felix Speller
Local architecture practice THISS Studio avoided contract furniture when designing this London office, which was created from reclaimed materials found on the site or sourced second-hand.
Conceived for independent PR studio Salt, the space includes a duo of tables created us using old steel catering surfaces purchased on eBay and crowned with tops made from leftover cork edged with white American oak.
Photo by Stan Huaux
Jam Hotel Ghent, Belgium, Studio Lionel Jadot
Brussels firm Studio Lionel Jadot transformed a former military barracks in Ghent, Belgium, into a hotel for the Jam Hotels brand.
The studio worked with local artisans to craft contextually specific furniture solutions using found materials, including the blue flooring in the hotel bar made from old roof timber.
Find out more about Jam Hotel Ghent ›
Photo by Syam Sreesylam
The Wendy House, India, by Earthscape Studio
Aiming to draw from the surrounding nature of this home in Kerala, Earthscape Studio used locally sourced materials throughout the building, including recycled rods, broken tiles and earth from the site.
The Bengaluru practice used the recycled rods alongside waste wood to create the frames for built-in furniture, including a bed, sofa, and kitchen counter.
Find out more about The Wendy House ›
Photo by José Hevia
This Barcelona apartment was completed by local studio Takk using a material budget of 10,000 euros, with the aim of updating the home to be as sustainable as possible.
The studio took cues from snugly stacked Russian dolls for the interior renovation, which features rooms nestled inside each other to maximise insulation.
Recycled white table legs were used to lift interior spaces, creating room for water pipes and electrical fittings without the extra cost of adding wall grooves.
Find out more about 10K House ›
Photo by Magdalena Gruber
Office interior, Germany, by Urselmann InteriorÂ
Glueless joinery and a cellulose-based wall cladding feature in the Düsseldorf studio of interior design company Urselmann Interior, which was renovated using biodegradable, recycled or upcycled materials.
The studio completed the renovation project itself, salvaging existing wooden and terrazzo flooring from the building.
“The office serves us as a laboratory in that we can [use it to] test new qualities, materials and construction methods,” project manager Liz Theißen told Dezeen.
Find out more about Urselmann Interior’s office ›
Photo by French & Tye
Traid store, UK, by Hemingway Design and James Shaw
Local designer James Shaw created furniture for this store interior for London charity retailer Traid, using leftover second-hand clothes that Traid deemed unsellable.
Known for repurposing waste materials, Shaw also created curved pendant lighting from the old clothes, which were shredded back to fibres and combined with a plant-based binder.
Find out more about this Traid store ›
This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring home saunas, Mexico City restaurants and living rooms with blockwork walls.