Instagram story viewer> @cellacollective> Posts

Cella Collective

@cellacollective

2.9K

followers

725

following

Cella is a collective of designers and makers exploring the relationship between spaces, materials and ecology through building, teaching and writing.

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Download All

It was great to talk to @framemagazine for their Spring Issue. We spoke about shifting material narratives and design practices from extraction to participation and regeneration.

Cella operates as a community of designers and makers that come together through teaching and built projects by @cellacollective

3

0

3 days ago

A peek at some of the details…

The Water Tower is a new reed and timber structure for @houghtonfestival by Cella Collective and Mitre & Mondays. Big thanks to @benjaminwprice and @houghtonfestival for inviting us back with this commission

Design and build – @cellacollective @mitreandmondays

Photographs – @henrywoide

Water reed – RSPB Tay Reedbeds @rspb.scotland

Thatching advice – Master Thatcher Wayne Halfpenny and Steve Kelly, Thatchright

Installation – @creativebuildprojects

Structural Engineer – @publichouse135

And a huge thanks to @brucekennethdesigns for sharing his barn and wood workshop for the build.

Framing a tiny moon here, 4 repeatable units join to create two A-frames…

…that support 12 thatched cassettes sitting on top of the outriggers, tying the structure together

A view up to the cassettes from the inside

The frame is dressed with water reed in layers from the bottom-up

We like that the top layer is split around the structure creating a ‘gap tooth’. Here the reed is pinched into place using hazel sways (strips of timber bent by hand)

You can enter the structure through four entrances and sit inside on deep benches

Designed to be disassembled and reinstalled each year, the 5.5m tall Water Tower is the latest installation to become a permanent fixture to the East of the Houghton site taken in Houghton Hall by @cellacollective

170

3

10 days ago

The Water Tower is a new reed and timber structure for @houghtonfestival by Cella Collective and Mitre & Mondays

Designed to be rebuilt each year, it is centred around a material ecosystem very familiar to Norfolk: reedbed landscapes and the craft of thatching.

The project specifies underused homegrown water reed that sits in competition with imported thatch.

Big thanks to @benjaminwprice and @houghtonfestival for inviting us back with this commission.

And another big thanks to @brucekennethdesigns for sharing his barn and wood workshop for the build.

Design and build – @cellacollective @mitreandmondays

Photographs – @henrywoide

Water reed – RSPB Tay Reedbeds @rspb.scotland

Thatching advice – Master Thatcher Wayne Halfpenny and Steve Kelly, Thatchright

Installation – @creativebuildprojects

Structural Engineer – @publichouse135 taken in Houghton Festival by @cellacollective

579

9

12 days ago

A Circular City Starts with Community is the 2nd edition of our exhibition at @morrisand.company opened with an evening of talks—from @fantasyfibremill, @wickcdt, Poli @UCL, Cella and more—as part of @l_d_f_official last Thursday. You can pop into the exhibition until December 20th

The exhibition was designed to materialise @ucl @of_making ‘s research guidance into Community Circular Economy (CE) Hubs through residents of The Loop, East London’s first CE Hub.

Aimed at local authorities, architects, planners and developers, the guidance outlines community CE hubs as a replicable place-based typology for neighbourhoods across the country, with the hope the research can inform local planning policy. Read the guidance from the link in our bio.

During a workshop at The Loop, residents shared their insights and experience of the material and social infrastructure required to support their circular practices and we co-designed the exhibition with these in mind.

The design uses almost entirely recycled materials, 300+ XXL cardboard tubes and a handful of ratchet straps from @resolvecollective ‘s mega material store at @tippingpointeast. Exhibition interpretation was printed on @fibrelab paper made from recycled textile fibres.

Big thanks to @morrisand.company for hosting part 2 and the Loop residents and exhibitors @fantasyfibremill @fibrelab @angusclifford @areyoumad.co @yodomo.co @matter.forms @looplyplanet @reuser.club @studiotip_

And also to our collaborators @UCL @of_making @wickcdt @morrisand.company
Photos by @studio.s.p

#CircularEconomyHubs #CircularEconomy #Guidance #ZeroWaste #CircularCities by @cellacollective

194

2

12 days ago

What would you love to see growing in Devonshire Ward?

What stories would you like a garden to hold?

Where could a garden take root and who would it be for?

Pop-up Potting Shed
24 - 27 September 2026
11am - 3pm daily

For four days, Devonshire Collective and friends’ Pop-up Potting Shed becomes a place to gather, make, listen and imagine. We will be out and about with our mobile structure, from the beach to the street. We’re inviting the people who live, work, pass through and spend time in Devonshire Ward to help shape the future of its gardens and green spaces.

We want to hear what matters to you, as we embark on finding places, spaces and stories to plot new areas to grow plants, in shared co-created gardens in our future.

Find out more on our website, join the whatsapp group via bio and follow updates on our stories 🌱

Images 1-3: Cella Collective, Pop-up Potting Shed with Devonshire Collective
Images 4-5: Katie Spragg
Image 6: Loupe Cooper by @cellacollective

72

6

13 days ago

Earlier this month, Dezeen’s architecture reporter Amy Peacock (@amy.peacock) caught up with architectural designer Alys Hargreaves from Cella Collective (@cellacollective) at Houghton Festival (@houghtonfestival).

Cella Collective, in collaboration with Mitre & Mondays (@mitreandmondays), unveiled a new monumental timber-and-thatch pavilion on the festival grounds. The structure was informed by Houghton Hall’s historic 1772 water tower and was constructed using sustainably harvested reed from Scottish RSPB reedbeds, highlighting how regenerative design can support biodiversity and traditional craft.

Peacock and Hargreaves also discuss why materiality matters, how design plays a part in the festival experience, and other must-see installations at this year’s Houghton Festival such as wooden thrones by Call Super (@call_super).

🎥 by Simon Volt (@simon21st)
Houghton Minute is a Dezeen video produced with Houghton Festival by @cellacollective

2k

25

a month ago

Houghton are pleased to announce its first art & design commission of 2026. The work entitled ‘The Water Tower’ is a collaboration between Cella Collective (@cellacollective) and Mitre & Mondays (@mitreandmondays), shaped by a shared interest in materials, ecology and landscape systems.

A new structure built from timber and thatch, The Water Tower creates a dialogue between Norfolk’s watery broads, intertidal reedbeds and the tradition of thatching that has grown from this landscape. Closer to the site, the structure references the water tower, built in 1772 to service Houghton Hall, the first of its kind in the region.

Thatched in material harvested from RSPB reedbeds, the Water Tower finds use for material cut for habitat management. In doing so, it recentres the need for regenerative homegrown construction materials, that, when effectively managed, supports birdlife and the health of our waterways.

What was once a habitat for Bearded Tits, Marsh Harrier and Water Rale will soon welcome you at the site’s Eastern edge.

——
Mitre & Mondays is a design studio and workshop designing and manufacturing spatial projects that connect people to the material world around them. Cella is a collective of makers exploring the relationship between spaces, materials and ecology through building, teaching and writing

Commissioned by: @houghtonfestival

Design & Fabrication: @cellacollective @mitreandmondays

Water Reeds - @rspb.scotland Tay Reedbeds

Reed Haulier - Ewen Stewart and Son

On site installation - @creativebuildprojects

Thatching advice – Master Thatcher Wayne Halfpenny and Steve Kelly, Thatchright

Structural Engineer - @publichouse135 Public House

Workshop Space - @brucekennethdesigns

Images:

[1]. The Water Tower
[2]. The existing Houghton Water Tower disguised as a Georgian folly
[3]. Reedbed with managed block at Tay Reedbeds
[4]. Ella, Alys & Joe from Cella and Mitre & Mondays
[5]. Rotational cutting creates a mosaic of habitats
[6]. Timber framing of the Water Tower
[7]. Softrak with harvested bales
[8]. Harvested bales
[9]. Beared Tit in all it’s glory taken in Houghton, Norfolk, United Kingdom by @cellacollective

5k

62

3 months ago

In April we celebrated the launch of @ucl @of_making ‘s research guidance into Community Circular Economy (CE) Hubs at The Loop, East London’s first CE Hub.

Cella were invited to design an installation to communicate and launch this guidance which aims to demystify complex funding and governance requirements, whilst supporting the sprouting of community CE hubs as a replicable place-based typology in neighbourhoods across the country.

During a workshop at The Loop, residents shared their insights and experience of the material and social infrastructure required to support their circular practices and we co-designed an exhibition with these considerations in mind.

The spatial design uses almost entirely recycled materials, 300+ XXL cardboard tubes and a handful of ratchet straps from @resolvecollective ‘s mega material store at @tippingpointeast. Exhibition interpretation was printed on @fibrelab paper made from recycled textile fibres. It has now been flatpacked and tetrised into a tiny van, with plans for the 2nd edition of the exhibition in the works.

Read the guidance from the link in our bio.

Big thanks to The Loop residents and exhibitors @fantasyfibremill @fibrelab @angusclifford @areyoumad.co @yodomo.co @matter.forms @looplyplanet @reuser.club @studiotip_

And also to our collaborators @UCL @of_making @cellacollective @wickcdt @morrisand.company
Cella Collective team @edieep @alys_e_h @negartaatizadeh
Photos 1-15 by @studio.s.p, WIP photos 15-20

This event was organised by UCL Plastic Waste Innovation Hub in collaboration with UCL Innovation & Enterprise, Hackney Wick & Fish Island Community Development Trust

#CircularEconomyHubs #CircularEconomy #Guidance #ZeroWaste #CircularCities by @cellacollective

3

0

4 months ago

This year we collaborated with @publichouse135 to design and build the @moon___screen cinema for @wakinglife.pt festival.

Oriented east to west, the design sits nestled in a ring of Portuguese cork oaks, native trees shrouded in mysticism and considered sacred in local folklore. A space of transitions, the visitor is guided between the trees and columns, through flowing fabrics guarded by suspended clay mouras - the spirits of folklore who appear on midsummer - and into a space of contemplation and reflection.

A circular skylight moon hole frames the sky between the trees for stargazing, connecting to celestial bodies.

Hanging from a timber grid frame, fabrics create shade throughout the day, whilst enclosing the space at night to frame the stage, screen, and lake beyond.

A sculpted earthwork amphitheatre provides seating, its geometry dictated by the surrounding tree root systems, its curves paying reference to water retention systems for the arid summer landscape.

Photography by @niccola.be

Big thank you to all those who were a part of this along the way! by @cellacollective

203

5

9 months ago

A single, 14 tonne granite rock was cut into 4 pieces, moved to site and then reassembled with the central piece missing to create a doorway. This central piece is rotated to align with the equinox, and has a moon-shaped sundial carved into both the southern and northern faces.

Big thanks to @wakinglife.pt and collaborator and logistical master Maria @maryax by @cellacollective

74

0

a year ago

A single, 14 tonne granite rock was cut into 4 pieces, moved to site and then reassembled with the central piece missing to create a doorway. This central piece is rotated to align with the equinox, and has a moon-shaped sundial carved into both the southern and northern faces.

Big thanks to @wakinglife.pt and collaborator and logistical master Maria @maryax by @cellacollective

74

0

a year ago

‘Alminhas das Mouras’ is a wayside shrine composed of a granite doorway, a standing stone aligned to the equinox, and an altar with ceramic pots.

In Portuguese folklore, it is said that the souls of the dead inhabit stones alongside the Mouras - enchanted female spirits who are believed to be the builders of megaliths and dolmens.

Visitors are encouraged to approach with intention - first pausing to ask permission to enter, then washing their hands at the altar and stepping through the threshold. Whilst passing through, one might offer gratitude or dedicate a thought to the souls of the dead or the spirits of the land.

The altar includes a ceramic bowl for washing, a pot for wishes and some charcoal which represents the fire element.

📸 - @niccola.be thanks for the images! (Photos 1&2)
Big thanks to @wakinglife.pt and collaborator/logistical master @maryax by @cellacollective

152

4

a year ago