A model to support local supply chains for building elements, furniture and upcycled objects
The Upcycling Hub proposes a circular supply chain model for building materials and furniture.
of neighbourhoods and small-scale towns. The main objective is to salvage and then repurpose materials destined for landfill through processes of local upcycling. A network of local actors is brought together, and a physical place is established as the heart of the entire supply chain. This place is called the Hub.
Local
Austria
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Mainly urban
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
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No
As an individual in partnership with other persons
First name: Nicole Last name: Vettore Gender: Female Age: 26 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
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The Upcycling Hub proposes a model for neighbourhoods and small-scale towns to create a circular supply chain for their building materials and furniture. The main objective is to salvage as many materials as possible from construction sites, small businesses and private individuals, and bring them back to the market after processes of local upcycling. To achieve this vision, a network of local actors is brought together, and a physical place is established as the heart of the entire supply chain. This place is called the Hub.
Six local groups are identified for the success of the model: Constructors, such as demolishers, builders, and removalists, bring materials from their sites with a "nothing goes to landfills" approach. Upcyclers are professionals with expertise in transforming small building elements, furniture, and common objects through upcycling methods. Creatives, such as start-ups, designers, and architects with a focus on sustainability, have access to a library of repurposed, zero-impact materials for their local projects. Communities, in the form of local groups and NPOs, develop circular consciousness through events, workshops, and lectures. - Individuals, including locals, makers, and visitors, can access to the second-use material market and to the equipment for self-repair and self-upcycling. Organisations as companies, SMEs, and municipalities can offer surplus fit-outs and activate unused objects.
All together, these actors enable the local exchange, reuse, repair and resale of building elements and furniture promoting local craft and local engagement. The Hub not only houses the labs for these processes, but also contains the large inventory of upcycled materials that is open to all and acts as local marketplace, making circular processes visible, accessible and desirable
The Hub model is explored through the design of a pilot building for the under-construction neighbourhood of Aspern Airfield in Vienna.
Circular model of supply chain
Local economies
Upcycling
Accessible circularity
Social warehouse
The key objective of the Upcycling Hub concept in terms of sustainability is to create a future where waste is a thing of the past, resources are revalued, and citizens are active participants of these processes.
The Hub seeks to achieve this by creating a circular model and a physical place to make it thrive.
The model designs the optimal circulation of materials through the involvement of local actors who can contribute to the different processes (procurement, storage, reuse, remanufacturing, resale).
On the other hand, the physical place promotes the cross-contamination of knowledge through a mix of social and logistical spaces. The building not only houses wood, ceramic, glass and metal workshops for upcycling elements, but also community classrooms, cafés, an event venue and the large central 'market' for upcycled pieces ready to return to the market.
In this way, the sustainable goal for a circular supply chain is transformed into an opportunity for aggregation and social community.
The very quality of the Hub experience lies in the juxtaposition of dynamic activities happening in the place.
The Upcycling Hub it is about creating an ecosystem that inspires, excites and brings people together. As a physical space, the Hub offers an open marketplace, community spaces and labs for construction and self-repair. It is designed to be a place of creativity, where people can work together, exchange ideas and turn their visions into reality. The new figure of the upcycle designer will be crucial in proving the beauty of circularity and new ways of designing new objects from discarded ones. The accessible central warehouse/marketplace is the heart of the ecosystem and collect all the upcycled items. It has rich daylight and high ceiling, and it is meant to evoke feelings of joy, wonder and calm.
As a manifesto, the building we have designed is an architecture that avoids waste in all its elements, using reclaimed timber as structure, reused window frames as skin, completely demountable system, it is inspired and developed by circular thinking itself.
As mentioned before, inclusion is embedded in the very idea of the Upcycling Hub where the sustainable goal for a circular supply chain is transformed into an opportunity for aggregation and social community.
The proposed model is not a logistics-based circular supply-chain but one that promotes serendipity and citizens involvement. For these reasons the Hub offers: spaces for local communities and/or organisations dedicated to teaching and pursuing sustainable activities; equipped spaces for self-repairing and self-upcycling; space for showcasing local, upcycled or second-hand product.
The Hub's laboratories will be accessible to schools and the curious, and the entire building will be at the centre of the future sustainable community.
In its ideal intent, the Hub ecosystem it is a place that teaches you that everyone, in every scale, can make a difference. The Hub model is promoting exchange, creativity and different design approaches, as well a positive and cultural experience for people.
Civil society will not only benefit from the reduction of raw material consumption, but also from the introduction of "new" values. In one respect, the Upcycling Hub takes up the role that a local “bottega” had for our grandparents. Nothing was wasted, but everything was reused, repurposed or repurposed locally with less impact on the entire supply chain.
Circularity can be a fun and special process, and it does not always have to look like a factory or big recycling factories.
For this first concept no stakeholders have been engaged. However, their future involvement is key to the development of the project. Each of the actors in the model must be involved and potentially brought to the same table. In particular, it is crucial to involve local builders, wreckers, and movers to understand what the safest methods and processes for salvaging elements and materials are and how to store these safely. On the other hand, the municipality of Aspern Airfield can offer vision and insights into policy making and how the concept fit into Vienna Circular Plan for 2030. Testing what people and local communities think about upcycling and reuse is also important.
Finally, it is crucial to demonstrate how upcycled design can be as beautiful and desirable as the standard consumer model. For this, designers and creatives will have to deliver beautiful upcycled creations.
The design of the model encompasses a diverse range of disciplines and fields of knowledge. Architecture, circular and upcycling processes in construction, recent circular and sustainable policies are all central to the design, with a focus on the role they play in shaping neighbourhoods and supporting local economies.
Additionally, the design incorporates elements of design and social science, and draws inspiration from self-sufficient community structures.
The model proposes several innovative characters compared to mainstream actions:
- Offer a solution to keep the value of second-hand furniture and building components that are not in sufficiently good shape to be resold directly;
- Bringing together very different stakeholders to make the circular supply chain possible and efficient;
- Introducing accessible spaces for self-repair and self-upcycling as crucial spaces for future local economies;
- Reimaging the classic typology of a closed warehouse into an open hybrid building where citizens can see and participate in new processes of remanufacturing;
- Matching the logistic needs of a circular model with community involvement and active participation;
- Approach the upcycling process as a big opportunity for designers and creatives, they have the responsibility to prove the beauty of upcycled elements.
The concept suggests also some innovation in the way people live. For example, it is easy to imagine people who, instead of going to cover new furniture, go to see what is available at the Hub. Or... they can go to the Hub and fabricate it themselves. Similarly, one can imagine architects who, before designing a house or an interior, start strictly from what is available in the Hub.
The Upcycling Hub concept has several replicable elements that can be transferred to other places, groups of beneficiaries and contexts.
Firstly, the model itself can be adapted to various scales and tailored to suit different communities and regions. For example, the processes and actors described can be found similarly throughout Europe and the model as it stands can be an excellent starting point. At other scales, some actors may take on larger or smaller roles, and the inclusion of heavier processes or machining of raw materials can be considered.
Overall, the approach of a hybrid spatial model and typology (providing both logistics and storage as well as a social and exchange place) is a new approach worth testing everywhere.
The Upcycling Hub addresses global challenges such as waste reduction, resources scarcity, degradation of local economies and sustainable consumption.
The focus on making circular processes visible, accessible and desirable, through a combination of digital and physical spaces, promotes sustainable consumption practices and encourages community engagement and exchanges. By engaging different stakeholders, from constructors and individuals to creatives and organizations, the Upcycling Hub creates an ecosystem of actors working towards a life-cycle conscious future. This local solution has the potential to be replicated and transferred to other places, groups of beneficiaries, and contexts, helping address the global scarcity of resources and overconsumption.
