Roz Barr Architects – Cork Staircase

The Building Centre was founded in 1932 by Frank Yerbury as a place to celebrate the built environment. The Building Centre showcases innovation in architecture, engineering and construction through exhibitions and an extensive product library.

In 2015 Roz Barr Architects were appointed to re-imagine the Building Centre and have been involved in the process of refurbishing this famous building on Store Street in central London.

The redesign of a new gallery in the central public space of the building included a new staircase which will be the centre point of these new works. The idea for the Cork stair was borne out of using a building material that symbolised a sustainable and innovative approach that could be used in an inventive way to demonstrate its attributes. Roz Barr was interested in the use of solid Cork blocks. She knew of its attributes as being truly Carbon Neutral but also a material underused in the UK as a building material.