MYCELIUM

SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS

Mycelium is a crazy futuristic building material that’s actually

totally natural it comprises the root structure of fungi and
mushrooms. Mycelium can be encouraged to grow around a
composite of other natural materials, like ground up straw, in
molds or forms, then air-dried to create lightweight and strong
bricks or other shapes
CASE STUDY CULTYBRAGGAN HUT ONE Location Comrie, Perthshire

Hut One has been refurbished as a

visitors centre. Originally
conceived as a temporary
building, this 70 year old structure
has been secured for another
generation using innovative
construction materials.

The aim of the project was to demonstrate how recycled

and natural materials could be used to insulate existing Recycled Plastic Insulation
buildings, and provide a temporary small visitor centre
exhibiting both the heritage and low carbon future of the Wood Fibre Insulation
site.
Sheep’s Wool Insulation

Recycled Cotton Insulation

Hemp Batt Insulation

A variety of innovative insulation materials
have been tested in Hut One. Between the
external corrugated metal exterior and
plywood inner skin a number of flexible
insulation materials were used: Sheep’s wool
which is a natural insulation made in the UK
from waste wool;

Recycled Plastic insulation which is

composed of 80% recycled material;
Hemp Batts which are an ideal
insulator with a guaranteed longevity
often exceeding the life of the
building.
 Hy-Fi, Queen, New york
The race to find the next sustainable
technology or material that will greatly
reduce our ecological footprint as well as
improve our environment is causing
countless new materials to develop
which hold the possibility of helping to
achieve this generation’s sustainability
goals. One of the newest and most
promising is the mycelium brick.

A mycelium brick is an organic brick that is formed from organic waste and the mycelium of
fungus. Mycelium are the thin root-like fibres from fungi which run underneath the ground,
when dried it can be used as a super strong, water, mould and fire resistant building material
that can be grown into specific forms, thus reducing the processing requirements