WHO WE ARE

Ikonomo: Our Story

Hi there, I'm Harry, the founder of Ikonomo. I want to tell you how a simple passion of mine turned into a full-blown mission.

So, it all started with my love for carpentry and joinery. I actually spent my early career, from 2018 to 2020, as a trainee joiner with the National Trust, focusing solely on traditional carpentry and joinery work on their heritage buildings across the country.

Unfortunately, like many people, I was made redundant due to Covid-19 in 2020. I didn’t stop, though. I spent the better part of the next two years working independently across the UK. This is when I really started designing and building beautiful timber garden rooms and pergolas, transforming customers’ gardens into functional, sustainable spaces.

The Founder’s Mission: From Waste to Resolution

After two years on the front lines of construction, a disconnect became impossible to ignore. I was surrounded by waste—industrial offcuts, plastic packaging, and high-value materials with nowhere to go but the skip.

At the same time, the headlines were dominated by a dual crisis: a tightening housing market that has locked an entire generation out of homeownership, and the catastrophic impact of plastic pollution on the British environment.

It became clear that these weren't separate problems—they were symptoms of a broken system. We were discarding the very materials that could be used to build the future. I realized that I couldn’t just keep building structures; I had to build a solution that turned an environmental liability into a social asset.

The Ikonomo Solution: The IKO-85 System

The most urgent challenge is the systemic barrier to housing. As a 23-year-old founder, I am part of the generation facing the reality of a housing ladder that has been pulled out of reach. The current model is unsustainable, and the IKO-85 was developed to break that cycle.

The IKO-85 isn't just a building system; it is a strategic strike against the root causes of the housing shortage and homelessness. Our mission is to move beyond temporary fixes and toward the total eradication of housing insecurity. By leveraging Ikonomics, we intercept industrial waste and engineer it into high-performance, permanent homes.

We aren't just building for the sake of construction—we are manufacturing a future where the British environment is protected, and the dream of a secure, sustainable home is a reality for everyone, not just the few.

Here’s how we approach it:

• Waste to Wonderful Homes:
  We work closely with our network of UK-based charities, organisations, and businesses to intercept waste before it ends up polluting our rivers, landscapes, and oceans. With the help of these charity partners, we collect and repurpose materials such as plastics, aluminium, and other recyclable components. This material is then transformed into high-quality building components for our affordable modular homes.

  What makes this process even more rewarding is that we financially support and reward those same organisations who help us from the very beginning. By reinvesting back into their work, we enable them to continue and expand their incredible efforts—creating a self-sustaining cycle of impact that benefits both people and the planet.

• Social Impact:
  The IKo-85 project is fundamentally about people. As we grow, we’re dedicated to working with those who need it most—not just giving them a home, but creating working and training opportunities alongside us.

• Closing the Loop:
  We’ve developed a range of products with high recycled content that are designed to be infinitely recyclable at the end of their life. We’re closing the loop on waste—because that’s what true sustainability is all about.

The IKo-85 scheme is bigger than just building houses. We want to engage with educational environments and find fun, meaningful ways for people of all ages to get hands-on with sustainability. It’s about building a movement, not just a structure.

Where We Are Now

And here we are today. To date, we’re proud to have over 150 incredible organisations, charities, and businesses working with us across the UK to make this vision a reality.

Our immediate goal is to have our first affordable housing site up and running, fully occupied, and making a difference by the end of 2026.

To reach this milestone, we’re currently seeking donations and funding support. If you or your organisation can assist—even with the smallest contribution—it will go a long way toward helping us achieve these goals and make a lasting impact for generations to come.