Re-Use in Construction is the definitive compendium on circular architecture, grounding an increasingly urgent design discourse in the hard technical, legal, and energy realities of building with salvaged components at scale.
About This Book
Circular architecture — the practice of re-using entire components and structural elements from existing buildings in new construction — has moved from fringe experiment to one of the central challenges of contemporary European architectural practice. This volume maps that territory with unusual rigour, anchored to the K.118 project in Winterthur: Switzerland's largest building to date constructed primarily from re-used parts. Drawing on interdisciplinary research conducted since the project's outset in 2018, the book addresses design and engineering, energy performance, economic modelling, process logistics, and legal frameworks. Concise essays, expert conversations, and 455 illustrations — photographs, plans, diagrams, and graphs — make this essential reading for architects and engineers working at the intersection of sustainability and construction.
Key Features
- 344 pages of photographs, architectural plans, informative diagrams, and data visualisations — 401 colour and 54 black-and-white illustrations
- Authored by the Institute of Constructive Design
- Built around the K.118 project, Winterthur — Switzerland's largest building constructed mainly from re-used parts
- Published by Park Books, 2018
What You'll Discover
- How circular architecture intersects with technology, structural safety, and energy performance — and where current practice meets its limits
- The legal and regulatory challenges specific to specifying and certifying re-used building components
- Economic arguments for resource re-use, including cost reduction and the conservation of embodied energy in materials with decades of remaining service life
- The climate case for circular construction: how deep cuts in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are achievable through building with salvaged elements
About the Author
The Institute of Constructive Design is the interdisciplinary research body behind the K.118 project evaluation, bringing together expertise across architectural design, engineering, energy analysis, economics, and construction law. [Details available upon request]
Specifications
- Format: Hardcover
- Pages: 344
- Dimensions: 285 × 210 mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9783038602958
- Publisher: Park Books
- Publication Date: 2018
Perfect For: Architects and engineers engaging with sustainable construction, researchers and academics in circular economy and building technology, and design students seeking a rigorous, evidence-based introduction to re-use in architecture.