House of moveable wooden walls unveiled, promising a cheaper, greener alternative to ‘knocking through’

Researchers at Cambridge’s Centre for Natural Material Innovation and partners PLP Architecture have unveiled ‘Ephemeral’, an innovative, flexible wooden partition wall solution for ever changing home-owner needs at the London Design Biennale at London’s Somerset House (1st – 25th June 2023).

The innovation aims to tackle the financial and environmental costs that arise when home-owners need to adapt their homes to changing life circumstances, such as new arrivals or changing mobility requirements. Made from kerfing, which allows wood to bend without breaking, the resulting wooden walls are simple, resilient, foldable and moveable allowing home-owners to customise their space without the need to demolish internal brick and/or plaster walls.

The project, led by Ana Gatóo – who developed the wooden walls as part of her Cambridge PhD – invites visitors to experience a prototype home constructed from the flexible wooden partition walls at the London Design Biennale. Gatóo and her colleagues based in the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Natural Material Innovation, emphasise that their system could be used anywhere in the world, within workplaces as well as homes, and that they have already begun encouraging conversations with industry, including with affordable housing developers in India.

Implemented at scale, the innovation could change the construction industry for the better, empowering people to adapt their spaces whilst cutting costs and unnecessary waste.

Working with Cambridge Enterprise the research term are seeking industry and policy partners to further advance the product feasibility for industry-wide adoption.

The project is supported by PLP Architecture, The Laudes Foundation, the Future Observatory and the AHRC Design Accelerator.