Corkinho stacks solid cork blocks into a demountable silence pavilion

A pavilion built from solid cork blocks stacked like giant bricks, with no glue and no screws, has been installed in the grounds of Casa No Tempo in southern Portugal's Alentejo region.

Antwerp-based studio Corkinho created the structure as its latest "still room" – a space dedicated to silent and introspective activities such as reading, yoga, tea ceremonies or meditation.

The site carries architectural pedigree. Casa No Tempo is a former farmhouse that architect Manuel Aires Mateus converted into a holiday home in 2014 for hospitality entrepreneur João Rodrigues.

How does a zero-waste building hold itself up?

Lead designer Cédric Etienne devised the building's innovative structure, which is fully demountable, with help from architect and master carpenter Gonçalo Madeira Marrote of Madeiguincho.

The anatomy is straightforward:

• A timber deck floor slab, built over a foundation of removable concrete blocks
• Walls of solid cork blocks, stacked like giant bricks and secured with metal rods threading through milled channels
• A timber roof that weighs the cork blocks down

Etienne describes that roof as "like a hat with four screws". The comparison is apt: the whole assembly comes apart.

"I wanted it to be zero waste and carbon-neutral," the designer told Dezeen.

"If we need to dismantle it, we can place it somewhere else. There is no glue and no screws," he said.

"It's like the Japanese way of building teahouses, with total respect of the local materials and no harm to the land."

That last claim covers the foundation too. Remove the concrete blocks, and the land forgets the building was ever there.

What is a still room?

As the name suggests, Corkinho is a studio that specialises in objects and spaces built from cork. The still room is its signature concept.

The studio first launched it in 2020, when it moved its office into the former Noorderpershuis power station in Antwerp and transformed one of the rooms into a silent sanctuary.

Etienne defines a still room as any space where you can pause your mind and be still.

"It's a place where you disconnect from noise and distractions and invite a deeper sense of presence," he said.

After consulting with various hotel brands keen to adopt the concept, Etienne pitched the idea to Rodrigues and his company, Silent Living. The company has five properties, all designed by Aires Mateus and all with a focus on slow living.

"I had been to Casa No Tempo many times, so I knew the place like an inner home," the designer said.

"It felt so aligned in terms of feeling and senses, so I thought it could be a really beautiful challenge to move the concept forward in this place," he continued.

Why cork, exactly?

The cork blocks came from locally based company Sofalca and were heat-treated to improve their durability. The material gives the building impressive sensorial and thermal qualities, Etienne said.

"All the technical properties of cork – the acoustics, the scent, the softness – all become architectural conditions," he stated.

He offered a concrete measure of the payoff: "You really feel like you're coming into a womb. Even when it's 40 degrees outside, the temperature inside is around 22 or 23."

Eighteen degrees of separation, delivered by bark.

Who gets to use it?

Guests staying at the villa can use the room, and it also accommodates curated programmes. Etienne has been hosting four-day silent retreats, bringing groups of designers and hospitality professionals to learn more about the still room concept.

That positions the pavilion as more than a villa amenity. It's a working demonstration, aimed at the people most likely to commission the next one.

Other pavilions recently featured on Dezeen include a wildlife pavilion informed by rippling water, by Desai Chia Architecture in New York, and a jigsaw-like pavilion made of mass-timber scrap by Architects Office in Brazil. Corkinho's contribution stands apart by promising the rarest thing in pavilion design: a building you can undo.