Who we are and what we do

Wreck collective was set up in 2005 to promote creative recycling. We are a small group based in London and Kent who scour skips and recycling websites for stuff. We are also well known for picking up stuff left on the side of the road. We use these "old" items to create new ones. These take all shapes, forms and sizes. Our largest project was a 29 foot diameter geodesic dome, created entirely from recycled and sustainable materials. The poles were coppiced from a farm in Kent, the hub/joiners were made from gas pipe offcuts and the canvas came from a scout group who were replacing their tents. The first time we put it up was in June 2005. All seemed well. We didnt have time to waterproof it before we went to Glastonbury Festival a week later. As we put it up in the Green Fields in the blazing sun we thought we had got away with it. No chance! It's big test was the storm and torrential rain on the Thursday night. We didn't fare well, and resorted to buckets and tents inside the dome to keep us dry . However once the storm passed we dried out and got many admiring comments. We were certainly not as smart as the commercial domes, but ours definitely had much more character! 8 of us comfortably lived in the dome for the festival.

It was next used in 2006 for a birthday party. This time the weather was much kinder. It made a great dance space and again was very well received.

Glastonbury 2007 was a real test. We waterproofed the canvas and it stood up to the terrible weather throughout the festival. The high winds of the last day left it battered but intact.

For this years festival, we have made some adaptations, and plan to use it as a dedicated exhibition area (running a pedal powered cinema.)

We have other projects, both past and present. In conjunction with Hackney City farm we converted a London taxi cab into a solar/wind powered cinema. This showed films at the London City Farms festival as well as Glastonbury 07. This proved to be a real attraction and got us lots of publicty. One of our members is a film student and her film "shop dropping" (see youtube!) was a real crowd pleaser. The largest single audience was 7 crammed in the back of the taxi!

We have traffic lights salvaged from the side of the road (legally!), and bubble machines, and have automata projects on the go too. Updates on our latest projects are regularly posted, contact us for more info.