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By Josfyn Uba
Founder of Slum Art Foundation, Adetunwase Adenle, has initiated what could turn out to be the start of a grassroots revolution that could win the support of corporate organisations. With discarded plastic bottles, Adenle built a state-of-the-art classroom.
In this interview, the renowned artist and multiple Guinness World Records holder discusses his newly launched PET bottle learning hub in Lagos. He explains how he is transforming waste into sanctuaries for education, blending creative up-cycling with environmental advocacy, and proving that the future of urban building starts in the communities fighting hardest for change.
What inspired you to build the PET Bottle School?
My inspiration came from the desire to turn a problem into a possibility. As an artist working with children in underserved communities, I was constantly seeing plastic bottles everywhere: on the streets, in drainage channels and around the communities where we worked. At the same time, I saw children who needed better learning environments and more opportunities. I asked myself: what if the waste we were throwing away could become part of the solution? That led me to experiment with PET bottles as a building material. It was not just about constructing a building; it was about creating a physical example that would show children that something considered waste can be transformed into something valuable.
The PET Bottle School therefore became both a building and a lesson. The children see the bottles being collected and transformed into a place where they learn. That connection between environmental responsibility, creativity and education is very important to me. Now, we have taken that idea further with our new PET Bottle Tech Learning Hub in Jakande Estate where young people can access digital learning, creativity and emerging technologies.
Our vision is to take this model into rural communities across Nigeria, combining sustainable construction with access to technology and new opportunities for young people. I believe architecture can do more than provide shelter. It can educate, inspire and change the way people think about their environment and their own potential.
How do you bridge the gap between functional architecture and artistic expression in a structure made primarily from waste?
For me, there is no real separation between art and architecture. I see the building itself as a canvas and a statement. When you are working with waste materials, you have to think differently about how those materials can be arranged, combined and transformed into something functional and meaningful. The PET bottles give us the opportunity to create something visually distinctive, but functionality always comes first. The structure has to provide a safe and useful learning environment, while the creative elements communicate a message about recycling, sustainability and possibility. As an artist, I also believe that the most important part of the work is the story it tells. A child who walks into a learning hub made partly from bottles that could have ended up as waste is already experiencing a lesson before the class begins. The building tells them that creativity can transform problems into solutions. So I don’t simply ask, “How can we make this building beautiful?” I ask, “How can we make this building useful, inspiring and meaningful?” That is where art, architecture and environmental advocacy come together for me.
How does a plastic-bottle office perform against Nigeria’s intense tropical heat, heavy rainy seasons and burglary compared to traditional brick-and-mortar buildings?
We designed the building with Nigeria’s climate and local realities in mind. The PET bottles are not used as a stand-alone wall system; they form part of a broader construction approach that includes conventional structural elements, roofing, ventilation and other building components.
For the tropical heat, we pay particular attention to ventilation, shading and the way the building is designed to allow air to circulate. The aim is to create a comfortable learning and working environment without depending entirely on mechanical cooling. Rain is another important consideration. The building has to be properly roofed, drained and protected from water penetration, just like any other building. The PET bottles themselves are not a substitute for good architectural and construction practice. Security is also treated as a separate design requirement. Doors, windows, locks and other security features are incorporated into the building according to the needs of the location. Being sustainable does not mean making a building less secure.
So I would not say that a PET-bottle building automatically performs better than a traditional brick building in every situation. What I would say is that, when properly designed and constructed, recycled materials can be incorporated into a functional, durable learning environment. Our experience with the PET Bottle Schools is helping us continue to improve the model for different communities across Nigeria.
How does the cost of building with eco-bricks compare to standard construction materials, and is this a scalable model for everyday Nigerians looking to build affordably?
The cost question is very important because sustainability must also make economic sense. Using PET bottles can reduce the amount of some conventional materials required, particularly when the bottles are locally collected and prepared. But I would not present PET-bottle construction as automatically cheaper than conventional construction in every situation. The total cost depends on the design, labour, structural system, location, transportation and other materials required. Where I see the real opportunity is in the fact that the raw material is already around us. Instead of treating plastic waste only as something that needs to be removed, we can create systems where it is collected, sorted, prepared and incorporated into useful infrastructure. That can potentially create value while also addressing an environmental problem. For everyday Nigerians, I believe the model has potential, but it has to be approached responsibly. We need proper designs, engineering input, building standards, trained workers and clear construction methods. We should not encourage people to simply collect bottles and start building without understanding the structural requirements.
Our ambition is to make the model scalable, particularly in rural communities where access to quality educational infrastructure and digital facilities can be limited. We are developing the PET Bottle Tech Learning Hub model so that sustainability is combined with education, technology and community development.
Ultimately, I don’t want the future to be about choosing between affordability and sustainability. I want us to develop building approaches that can create economic value, reduce waste and provide better spaces for people to learn, work and grow.
What regulatory or zoning hurdles did you encounter while building an unconventional structure, and how did you navigate them?
Because this is an unconventional approach to construction, one of the things we have had to take seriously is compliance. You cannot introduce a new building concept and assume that because the material is recycled, the normal requirements no longer apply.
Our approach has been to treat the PET Bottle School and Tech Learning Hub as real buildings first and experimental projects second. That means considering the relevant planning, structural, safety and building requirements, while working with the appropriate professionals and local authorities where necessary. The biggest lesson for me is that innovation has to work within a responsible framework. I don’t want to promote the idea that people should simply start building with plastic bottles without proper planning, engineering and approval. As we expand this model into rural communities across Nigeria, regulatory compliance will become even more important. We want to develop a repeatable model that can be adapted to different communities while meeting the appropriate standards in each location. Sustainability is not just about the material we use. It is also about building responsibly, safely and in a way that can stand the test of time.
What kind of conversations or behavioral changes are you hoping this building would spark among visitors and the general public?
I want people to leave the building with a different understanding of what waste means. When you see a plastic bottle on the street, you normally think, “This is rubbish.” I want people to start asking, “What else can this become?” For me, the building is a conversation starter. It challenges our thinking about waste, education, architecture and even technology. If a bottle that could have ended up in a drainage channel can become part of a school or a technology learning hub, then we have to rethink the way we value the materials around us.
I also want young people to understand that they can be part of the solution. Environmental advocacy should not only be about telling people what they should stop doing; it should also show them what they can create. A child who participates in collecting waste, transforming it and then learning technology inside a building made partly from that waste is experiencing sustainability in a very practical way.
Ultimately, I hope the project encourages a culture of “waste to wealth”—where communities begin to see environmental challenges as opportunities for creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation. The bigger message is simple: we don’t have to accept our environment as we find it. We can use creativity to transform it.
How can local communities and government bodies better integrate upcycled plastic architecture into urban renewal and waste management policies?
I think the first step is for government to begin seeing plastic waste not only as an environmental problem, but also as a potential resource. That requires collaboration between government, communities, architects, engineers, environmental organisations and the private sector.
Government can support this by creating clear standards for the responsible use of recycled materials in construction, supporting pilot projects, and integrating waste collection and sorting into urban renewal programmes. Communities should also be involved because they are the ones generating and managing much of the waste. If people can participate in collecting and sorting PET bottles and see economic or social value coming back to their communities, recycling becomes more meaningful.
I also believe public institutions can use projects like schools, community centres and technology hubs as demonstration projects. Imagine an urban renewal programme where a portion of the waste collected from a community is transformed into useful infrastructure within that same community. That creates a visible connection between waste management and development.
For us at Slum Art, this is where our experience with PET Bottle Schools is important. We are not saying that every building should be made from plastic bottles. We are demonstrating that, with the right design, engineering and construction approach, waste can become part of a functional community asset. The long-term opportunity is to build a circular system where waste becomes a resource, communities become participants, and sustainable architecture becomes part of how we develop our cities and rural communities.
As an artist and sustainability advocate, what is your next big project, and how do you plan to continue transforming waste into functional art?
My next big project is to take what we have developed with the PET Bottle Schools and the new Tech Learning Hub in Jakande Estate and expand the model into rural communities across Nigeria. The vision is to build sustainable learning and technology spaces where young people can access digital education, animation, artificial intelligence and other creative technologies, while the buildings themselves demonstrate what can be achieved through recycling and sustainable design. We want to start taking this model across different parts of Nigeria, particularly communities where young people may not have easy access to technology or modern learning facilities. The idea is to combine PET bottles, solar energy, digital learning infrastructure and creative education in one model that can be adapted to local communities. But I also see this as an artistic movement. I want to continue exploring how waste materials can become sculpture, architecture, installations, educational spaces and public art. My interest is not simply in making something from waste; it is in changing the way people think about waste. Ultimately, I want to build a generation that sees creativity as a tool for solving real problems. If we can teach a child that a discarded plastic bottle can become part of a school, and that the same child can then use technology to create a film, an animation or a business, we have moved beyond recycling. We are turning waste into opportunity. That is the future I am working towards: using art, sustainability and technology to transform communities, one creative solution at a time.
