Office floor in NEST is being built so that it can be recycled
Construction of the new office unit called Sprint begins in the modular research and innovation building of Empa and Eawag. The unit on the first floor in the NEST will be built largely from deconstructable and recyclable materials.
The office unit in NEST called Sprint is intended to set new standards for circular building. The groundbreaking ceremony will take place in mid-April. It should be finished in summer. Sprint is located on the first floor of NEST in Dübendorf. The three-storey modular building is the research and innovation center of the Federal Materials Testing and Research Institute ( Empa ) and the water research institute of the ETH Domain ( Eawag ).
As stated in a press release by Empa, those involved in the planning concentrated on finding the most general solutions possible for a later dismantling. In doing so, they follow a design approach that facilitates future changes and dismantling to recover systems, components and materials. Today's buildings have to be built in such a way “that their components can be fed back into cycles”, says Kerstin Müller, managing architect at baubüro in situ and managing director of Zirkular GmbH .
Your colleague Oliver Seidel points out that reusing materials is often associated with lower costs. “But the added value lies in another area: Re-use is more sustainable. And in terms of quality there is no loss. ”On the contrary. For example, the aesthetics of an old wooden parquet floor represent added value.
"For the first time, Empa is combining the approach of reuse and the market requirements of fast and flexible construction," Enrico Marchesi, innovation manager and project manager at NEST, is quoted as saying. "With the new 'Sprint' unit, we want to show that these needs can be met together."