We’re honored to be featured in
@dwellmagazine
Big thanks to
@broylesa for the fantastic article,
@caseywoodsphoto and the amazing team & manufacturers we worked with on the project!
@moontoweraustin
@amorimcork
@mafi.walkonart
@hempitecture
@vaproshield
@maderaframeworks
@newresultsac
@richlite
@morinbrotherscarpentry
@redovenps
🔗 in bio
“Tired of toxic materials, one architect started experimenting with the most natural ones he could find, including cork, hemp, and cross-laminated timber. "It's like the Michael Pollan rule: Eat food, but not too much, mostly plants," says Greg Esparza. "If we are trying to nourish ourselves with ingredients our grandmothers would recognize, why wouldn't I want to build a house with materials she would recognize?" A cofounder of design-build firm
@moontoweraustin and founder of
@crosscabin , Esparza applied Pollan's advice to build an experimental home in Austin: a shed-roofed two-bed, two-bath made of CLT and clad in a patchwork of mottled brown panels of cork.
While planning the project, the benefits were clear: Cork naturally contains suberin, a waxy substance, that prevents it from absorbing water; though biodegradable over a stretch of time, it's sturdy and long-lasting, even when exposed to moisture; it's not volatile, so it doesn't off-gas and cause health problems for workers and homeowners. And, Greg thought, if the bark worked to protect a tree-the ones harvested in Portugal to make cork panels can live to 500 years old-it'd work for a house. "We're using cork exactly how it's used by the tree," he says.
"It's protecting the
structure of the tree, and is the delineator between the outside and the protected inner environment."
