Archive · 1 Sep 2026
Alabama Students Build Affordable Home From Recycled Carpet Tiles
Alabama students built a home for the Harris family using old carpet tiles.
They used 72,000 tiles to make the walls.
The tiles had been stored for seven years before construction.
This helped the students stay within a limited budget.
The house also has a shelter to protect the family from tornadoes.
Lucy wanted a special place where she could pray.
The students created a tower above her bedroom that opens to the sky.
The project was part of Rural Studio, which teaches students by letting them build alongside rural communities.
Rural Studio also works on affordable homes and public buildings in Alabama.
Students built a charity home for Lucy and Anderson Harris and their children using 72,000 discarded carpet tiles.
The tiles were compressed into the walls and supported by a heavy wooden-ring beam, with a bedroom tower above and a tornado shelter below.
Interface Carpet provided $30,000 and 72,000 pounds of post-consumer carpet tiles for the project.
Lucy’s requested prayer space became a bedroom tower open to the sky, allowing light and shadows to enter.
The project reflects Rural Studio’s broader work on affordable housing, rural civic infrastructure, and hands-on architectural education.
- Who
- Rural Studio students built a home for Lucy and Anderson Harris and their children.
- What
- They constructed a charity house using 72,000 recycled carpet tiles, including a prayer tower and tornado shelter.
- When
- The article does not give the construction date; Rural Studio began its work in 1993.
- Where
- The home is in Newbern, Alabama, in Hale County’s Black Belt region.
- Why
- The project provided an affordable home while demonstrating how discarded materials could be used to meet a family’s specific needs.
- Residents
- Lucy and Anderson Harris and their children
- Recycled material
- 72,000 post-consumer carpet tiles weighing 72,000 pounds
- Funding
- Interface Carpet contributed $30,000 and the tiles
- Design features
- A bedroom above, a tornado shelter below, and an open-to-the-sky prayer tower
- Material preparation
- The tiles were stored for seven years before use
- Rural Studio history
- The program began in Hale County in 1993
- Program reach
- Rural Studio has completed more than 200 projects and educated more than 1,200 students