Your old maps could be the bricks of tomorrow

Useful things, maps: route planning; navigating through the hills; sitting on to have your picnic; building houses.

Yes, a firm of architects has come up with a novel building material – recycled Ordnance Survey maps. The idea won Amenity Space an award from Urban Re:Vision, a San Francisco-based organisation that encourages innovative designs in the urban environment.

Discarded maps are stacked and compressed to create building blocks which are thermally efficient and as strong as concrete.

Nicky Kirk, a director at Amenity Space, said: “We are truly delighted to win this award, especially given the quality of the other entries.

“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 map block system

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.

“At the moment,” Mr Kirk said, “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, said: “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.

“I look forward to one day visiting the first map-made building.”