Back in the summer, the Cosy Homes Club and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) teamed up to co-design a mobile retrofit demonstrator – a travelling resource designed to visit communities across Anfield and Everton, sparking conversations about retrofit and exploring how we can make our homes warmer, healthier and more sustainable. As part of this process, the team wanted to create something interactive that could help people learn about the different materials available for retrofitting their homes. This led to the idea of a set of dominoes, designed to accompany the travelling demonstrator as an informative, hands-on game exploring natural and sustainable building materials.
One of our members, Naomi Da Costa, who had been involved in the Cosy Homes Club from earlier stages, was commissioned by Two Up Two Down to bring the domino idea to life. Building on the conversations and collaborative design process, Naomi set out to create a set of dominoes using natural materials to help make learning about retrofit accessible, engaging and fun.
Naomi has been involved with the Cosy Homes Club as a community researcher, speaking with local people about their experiences of home, warmth and energy efficiency. Alongside this, she has a strong interest in how different materials can help create healthier, more comfortable homes, as well as experience working with natural materials in building and retrofitting. Bringing together her practical experience, interest in natural materials and understanding of the local community and the conversations that had shaped the project made her a great fit for the commission.
The dominoes were an opportunity to bring together Naomi’s interests in Lime plaster, Hemp and Clay, while exploring how natural materials can offer benefits beyond their environmental impact. From helping regulate moisture and reduce damp to improve warmth and comfort, the materials used in retrofit can have a real impact on how our homes feel and how healthy they are to live in.
Making the dominoes
The process involved researching, sourcing and experimenting with a range of natural building materials before turning them into individual domino samples.
1. Exploring the materials
Naomi worked with a range of natural building materials, including lime plaster, clay, hemp, straw, sheep’s wool, wood fibre and cork. Each material has its own qualities and benefits. Some can help buildings breathe and manage moisture, while others provide insulation and can reduce the need for synthetic materials. Exploring these differences helped build a better understanding of the options available when improving our homes.
2. Sourcing and preparing materials
An important part of the process was making use of materials that were already available. Naomi sourced leftover materials, including clay from Granby Tiles, giving these materials another use within the project. She then prepared and mixed the different materials, adding ingredients such as sand and natural fibres, including hemp fibre and straw, to create a range of textures and finishes.
3. In the Studio
With the materials prepared, Naomi moved into the making stage at her studio in Aspen Grove. Using moulds, she created individual samples, applying each material by hand before leaving them to dry. This gave her the opportunity to experiment with different combinations, see how the materials behaved and understand more about how they could be used in building and renovation. It was a hands-on process, bringing the research to life through making and allowing each material to be experienced in a tangible way.
When we caught up with Naomi after the commission she said ‘I really enjoyed the project and the opportunity to experiment a bit more with materials that I’m passionate about, I’m excited by the possibilities they provide for warmer healthier homes ‘
What happens next?
Over the next couple of months, we'll be taking the demonstrator and dominos out into our community, creating opportunities for people to explore different materials, share experiences and learn more about retrofit.
We're particularly looking forward to bringing the dominoes to our most recent purchase at 108 Thirlmere Road, where we'll be working alongside the Cosy Homes Club to think about what using these materials in our homes looks like in practice. From community conversations to a handmade set of dominoes, this project shows how local knowledge, creativity and collaboration can come together to make retrofit more accessible. We can't wait to see the conversations they help start.