Modern buildings are constructed with advanced and sustainable ingredients, and contractors can order building materials online that are amongst the most sustainable and long-lasting ever created, which work to provide any result you could desire.
However, whilst there are countless materials out there, some of which have generated somewhat strong opinions, perhaps the most maligned construction material in the UK was exclusively used in one seaside resort but could be dissolved away by even the slightest amount of water.
The material is known as bungaroosh, which is a composite building material as varied as its spelling. It was a shutter-erected walling type built using broken brick snaps, small shingles, lime mortar and flint, all materials that were very easily and cheaply found in Brighton and nearby Hove.
It reached its peak in popularity in the 19th century as a result of intense taxes on bricks, leading to a rush to find cheap alternatives, made with whatever was lying around that could pass for a viable structural material.
It is difficult to put into words the many problems with bungaroosh, with the material having the structural resilience of a sandcastle, meaning that the number of properties made of bungaroosh still standing is nothing short of a miracle.
Bungaroosh often has issues with damp due to water easily soaking through. However if too much water hits the bungaroosh material it will actually dissolve and shift, compromising the entire building. Too dry and the walls can crumble.
A common joke is that a strong hose could wipe out half of Brighton, and many structural engineers at the time would have celebrated this, given that bungaroosh is not only dangerous but also looks hideously ugly. It is a messy collage of broken brick and bric-a-brac.
It was a necessary evil at the time but is nothing if not heinous now.