The Design Museum in Ghent, Belgium, has opened a new extension, a £17 million (€20 million) project designed by London-based Carmody Groarke with local firms Atama and Re-st. The building incorporates recycled materials from the city, including condemned concrete frames, windows, car windscreens, sinks, and old toilets.
A key feature of the construction is the use of 62,000 specially developed bricks. Each brick is made from 63% construction waste, sourced within 8km of the museum, and compressed with hydrated lime. This process reportedly saves two-thirds of the embodied carbon of a regular fired clay brick, and the lime is expected to continue absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere over time.
The bricks were produced in a former railway depot nearby, with members of the public invited to participate in mixing ingredients and pressing blocks during a two-day brick-making festival. The extension also features walls plastered with local clay and toilet cubicles with tiles made from biomaterials such as seaweed, flax, wood terrazzo, and volcanic ash.
The new five-storey building aims to unite existing galleries and offers public spaces, including a freely accessible top-floor loft and a roof terrace with panoramic views of Ghent.