AME-LOT is a recent material reuse building plan from French architectural firm Malka, in which student housing is primarily made up of a variety of reused pallets which are added to an existing structure. The technique not only creates a striking architectural display, but also ensures that no existing building is destroyed, thus minimizing its carbon footprint.
Particularly interesting to note is the light shielding system, featuring wooden pallets that can geometrically change shape. Connected together using horizontal hinges, the pallets slide inwards and upwards to allow natural light to filter through when open, or to provide added privacy when closed.
The project has been designed for Rue Amelot in Paris, and boasts an area of 450 square meters (538 square yards). With a budget of EUR 290,000 (US$416,425), the student housing project appears to be a financially feasible option that may grab the attention of other urban planners.
Stating that "architecture can no longer exist in a unilateral system," Malka claims that AME-LOT is a solution for what can be considered "sustainable/environmentally friendly" architecture.
Source: Archdaily
There is also the other issue - that nothing quite burns as well as a stack of DRY wooden pallets.....
A whole yard filled with stacks of them goes even better.
Very fierce.
Pallets are easily recycled in ... pallets. They cost a lot. Are rented. And preciously reused... And fu***ng heavy!
Much more interesting would be to create clostras in bamboo.
More! it is yearky
I have some pallets because we have a small farm, and they are useful for various projects (the latest is a goat milking stand). I find that the wood used is sometimes very good - hardwood from East Asia. This brings up the question of what kind of long-term damage the rest of the world that gets the pallets will do to the originating country\'s forests. We should be looking for good uses for old pallets.
Some Mexican neighbors I had a while back built an addition onto their garage and used wood pallets as a foundation under the floor. They used the room as a bedroom.
Some time later in winter, some stuffed animals got up against a heater and set it on fire. The fire dept. couldn\'t get it out until I told them about how the floor was done. They used a chainsaw to cut a chunk out of a wall and down into the floor. Once able to shoot water under the floor they had the fire out very quickly.