[Design Studio] Circularity in the Built Environment - University of Liège

Seeing is believing!

This is the 9th version of our architectural design studio at Liege University on 'Regenerative Architecture and Circular Building Design.' The studio's goals and objectives align with the latest circularity principles and allow us to bring better tools and building references of sustainable and circular buildings to our students. We are using a tested design framework with simple key performance indicators so that our future architects can easily navigate these complex words of building materials and element choices. We are using a hot-spotting approach to identify critical building materials associated with high GHG emissions and construction details that can be disassembled. The modularity of the design and reversibility is part of the exercise to assure the highest probability of materials and elements reuse.

The students must measure and benchmark circular economy based on seven potential metrics for the building level and why it is an important consideration at a building level:
1. Dematerialisation (Upfront), Kg/m2 GIA
2. Design for Disassembly DfD %
3. Material: Re-used % (tonnes)
4. Recycled % (tonnes)
5. Material Database and Passport % (tonnes)
6. Design for adaptability % (Area)
7. Embodied Carbon (kgCO2e/m2 GIA)

This year (22.09.2023), we visited 't Centrum Circular Building in Westerlo, in Kamp C. We were hosted by Joeri Beneens Stefan Belmans, and Emiel Ascione. We had a guided tour with a detailed PowerPoint presentation on the project's progress and the challenges of integrating reused materials in the new building. Also, the choices made for slabs and roof finishes were challenging. The visit was a complementary exercise to the reading the paper published by Muheeb Al-Obaidy: A Parametric Approach to Optimizing Building Construction Systems and Carbon Footprint: A Case Study Inspired by Circularity Principles: https://lnkd.in/gbzk5VEe

We wish our students the best of luck with their future designs. Special thanks to Guirec Ruellan and Aurélie Piette, who are teaching this studio with Shady Attia for now. The SBD Lab team, including Tommaso Verdier, Enola Giannasi, and @Maxime Mori joined the visit as part of our contribution to ISO/CEN, IEA and COST projects.

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