Circular works
It's time to throw away demolition plans.
A familiar story unfolds as a new tenant signs the lease on a commercial building. Excited and inspired, they commission a designer to realise their vision, and in the process rip out the perfectly serviceable joinery, fittings and furniture already in situ.
Outsiders to the design and construction industry may be appalled to learn that much of that fitout ends up in landfill – time and time (and time) again.
A few statistics bring this picture clearly into focus: 40% of the world’s waste comes from the construction industry, which generates 141kg of waste for every square metre built.
“We have no choice,” says Architectus Principal Rebecca Daff of disrupting this cycle of waste. “It needs to change.”
A specialist in workplace design, Daff says design ego is just one barrier we need to breakthrough in the process – since designers often envision their designs on a clean slate.
The embedded First Nations artwork at 242 Exhibtion Street
“Particularly working in interiors, we go in and we rip out existing designs all the time in order to put in our new design, which is not only wasteful, but also dumb. We must force designers to take more responsibility.”
And this means a radical change in process, starting with terminology.
Known as a ‘demolition drawing’, one of the first steps in the process of renovating a space is marking in red where things need to be demolished. It’s a bad place to start, says Daff, since “demolition implies we should throw it away”.
For a recent renewal project at 242 Exhibition Street in Melbourne, Daff and the project team replaced the demolition plan with an ‘existing conditions management plan’, as known as a ‘material passport’, which puts the onus on design and construction teams to consider where material will eventually end up.
“And on that plan, we indicated what could be re-homed, what could be recycled and what could stay.”
The project itself, a renewed lobby space servicing a 60,000-square metre tower and five other adjoining buildings, is a lesson in minimal intervention for maximum outcome. With Telstra as the anchor tenant and up to 30 additional sub-tenants moving in, the design team devised a series of stories that create meaningful spaces within the larger precinct.
“We focussed on retaining and improving the existing architectural elements. The good news is that so much can be recycled.”
242 Exhibition Street
“I have been blown away, we can recycle plasterboard, stone floors, old computers and mice, door hardware, glass,” says Daff. “Basically everything that hasn’t been contaminated by asbestos or glue.”
242 Exhibition Street
Re-homing is another important piece of the puzzle: fridges and carpets can go to charity or even be received by the original maker in a ‘take back’ scheme.
This is where we close the loop closes on Daff’s new design process. The builder pulls together an operations manual at completion, containing instructions for how the next design team can Rehome, reuse, recycle or take back existing features.
“In 10 years’ time, they can see that these chairs or that carpet is going back to the supplier. It stops that cycle of demolition starting again.”
A small shift in terminology and a huge shift in responsibility. It’s a better place to start.
