Whilst expanded cork has traditionally been used inside walls to provide insulation, it can also be used on the outside of buildings. It stands up very well to weathering, just slowly bleaching in the sun and it does not require varnishing or any other kind of treatment; it also gives an attractive organic look to a building, which can work very well to help blend a building into the countryside.
Here you can see a video of a fabulous house built in Catalonia’s Garraf forest (in Spain) that has been entirely clad in expanded cork – the house was actually built as a passive house by pioneering green architect, Elisabetta Quarta Colosso and her architectural practice El Fil Verd, who introduced some fascinating concepts into the building to heat and cool it naturally, including a “Trombe Wall”. You can see in the video just how much Elisabetta loves expanded cork both for its insulating properties, longevity, aesthetic properties and of course its environmentally friendly credentials – she is truly a great ambassador for expanded cork and if you are looking for an architect to design you a house that incorporates expanded cork and a host of other environmentally friendly and innovative features, then it is certainly worth contacting El Fil Verd, which works in Portugal as well as other European countries.
There is so much to admire in this project and the video has been extremely well put together by Kirsten Dirksen, who specialises in films about sustainable living – you can see on the video how visitors are naturally drawn to the feel and texture that the expanded cork gives the building as well as the warmth that it provides.
Here is another video produced by several architects talking about how they have used expanded cork to actually build with as well as clad buildings:
If you are interested in expanded cork to insulate or clad your building, please contact us at CorkLink for more information.
Photo credit: ® MilenaVillaba https://milenavillalba.com/#ms-1
