Feature


Prioritising Reuse


When new tenants move into a commercial property it has, traditionally, been standard practice to replace the entire interior. Unfortunately, when the tenants move out, some products are recycled but, more often than not, most are sent to landfill. Most of the time this is completely unnecessary. Fundamentally, if we start to reuse good-condition fixtures and fittings, opposed to discarding them, we can deliver better long-term value with minimal environmental impact.


Manufacturers are increasingly exploring lease-based production strategies as one potential solution to the prevalent throwaway culture. It means that, in our case, a fit-out system will either be removed, refurbished, then stored for future use, or it can move with the leaseholder and be installed in their new space.


This is a win-win for all concerned, offering manufacturers the chance to serve their customers, elongate their product lifecycle and offering tenants the change to recoup value with each lease.


It will require people to alter the way they think, but will be worth the effort. Ultimately it will provide more flexibility whilst minimising energy and waste produced by continual development of brand new, carbon-intensive systems.


Since almost 60% of CO2 from our urban areas comes from


buildings, the majority of which will still be standing in 2050, reuse and retrofit will be essential to meet net zero objectives. The sensible and scalable option will be taking a circular approach, with reuse as the priority. Only then will the best environmental commercial fit-out be achieved, and carbon neutrality attained.


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