An office is designed once, but the materials that make it up have a much longer life. The question a circular project asks from the very start is: when this space changes, what will happen to the elements that inhabit it? The answer changes the choices made upstream – on suppliers, on furniture, on finishes – and determines how sustainable an intervention really is, or whether it is only sustainable on paper.
What goes into the circularity of a project
The first concrete act is to make an inventory of what already exists: furniture, systems, coverings. Assessing what can be kept, recovered or reused reduces the volume of site waste and the supply cost, and it is a choice that can be documented. The second act is to select new elements with precise criteria: modular and disassemblable furniture, finishes with long life cycles, materials with a traceable supply chain. These criteria correspond to the categories of the MR (Materials and Resources) credits in the LEED system – and they feed a company's environmental ESG documentation.
Durability and reconfigurability: why they matter
A workspace changes shape on average every few years: teams that grow, organisational models that evolve, areas that change purpose. If the furniture is designed to be reconfigured – not just moved, but recombined into different layouts – every change of arrangement generates no waste and requires no new supply. The durability of the finishes, on the other hand, reduces maintenance: a quality floor, correctly installed, lasts for decades without further work.
Inventory of the existing
Survey furniture, systems and finishes before the project and decide what to recover.
- Mapping of what is there
- Keep or reuse
- Less site waste
Supplier selection
Choose documented supply chains and materials with verified traceability and durability.
- Traceable supply chain
- Recycled content
- Nearby sourcing
Design for disassembly
Favour modular and disassemblable furniture that can be recombined when the space changes.
- Modular components
- Disassemblable and reconfigurable
- Data for ESG and LEED
The link with LEED and ESG
Circular choices are not parallel to the LEED path: they are an integral part of it. The credits relating to materials concern exactly reuse, recycled content, sourcing distance and disposal of site waste. A project that documents these choices from the start makes the certification process more robust and contributes to the Environmental pillar of the client company's ESG strategy. The difference between a statement of intent and a reportable figure lies precisely in the documentation gathered during the project.
Materials in the factory too
The choice of materials also counts in industrial buildings. The timber of Marlegno's Innovation Building Center and Gualini's sheet metal reflect durable construction choices that are consistent with the company. Read more in Industrial architecture: the warehouse as a project.