28
PROJECT REPORT: COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS
“Now Bywater has committed from fi rst principles to look to use timber and test if it’s the most practical options for every project it does.” With reuse now built into the building’s
DNA, the question is how to ensure that any future developers of the site make use of the structure and actively disassemble it rather than simply knocking it down? “This building could last 100 years and disassembly is already a growing industry, in 30, 40 or 50 years it’s going to be much more commonplace,” concludes Richardson, “The most helpful enabler for that process was making it a design constraint from day one.”
WHY DESIGN FOR DISASSEMBLY?
sequestered, it is one of the lowest embodied carbon offi ces in the UK
With over 1,800 tonnes of CO2
the planning stages and wanted to help support innovation in timber buildings. The company ended up forming a 50/50 joint venture with Bywater Properties to develop the scheme.
“Lots of projects don’t go ahead because there has not been the investment to enable the testing, so we were very lucky to have Sumitomo onboard,” says Richardson,
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK
Designing buildings that can be deconstructed or disassembled enables building structures, materials, products, and components to be kept in the loop instead of wasted – this is the core principle of a circular economy, which should ultimately lead to a more sustainable built environment. According to the UK Green Building Council, a circular economy aims to ‘maximise reuse’ and ‘minimise impact and waste.’ Designing for deconstruction helps support this by reducing the amount of demolition waste – caused by knocking buildings down rather than reusing their components - that goes to landfi ll, also reducing the carbon emissions that come from remanufacturing and reprocessing materials. It also leads to greater fl exibility in the way spaces are used. Deconstruction must be designed for in the early stages of a building project to ensure that disassembly will be effective, potentially many decades in the future. Not properly considering deconstruction at the design stage will make material recovery more costly and time consuming leading to less reuse and more waste. UKGBC circularity economy guidance outlines some of the key considerations on disassembly and circularity at each of the RIBA stages. At present, the majority of buildings are not built for deconstruction or disassembly, due to the perceived additional cost and time involved.
ADF FEBRUARY 2026
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
