The grating railings at the LysP8 project come from a prison in Zurich, where the elements previously served as beds. The façade is made of used roof tiles, and the kitchens come from a housing estate in Zurich. Garden paving slabs, which lie around in every housing estate, can be collected and laid again instead of ordering new ones. BaselCircular presents the project in a video spotlight.
Priorities reversed
Normally, deadline and cost pressure come first. At LysP8 this was reversed and sustainability was put first. Reuse was a topic from the outset: Stiftung Habitat made a point as early as the competition of having the teams work with it. The architecture firm Loeliger Strub used building components as a source for its design. After that, the search focused on the components that were to be pursued in the project.
The façade is the project's trademark. The plan from the beginning was to work with used roof tiles and to show them visibly. They come from different demolition sites and therefore differ in appearance and patina. For the project, this is added value rather than a drawback.
The railings illustrate a principle that was very important for the project: everything was planned so that the elements can simply be lined up next to each other without having to be adapted.
Early decisions as the biggest challenge
The biggest challenge was that decisions had to be made early in planning and that everyone had to commit to this process. The kitchens are the example: they had to be decided on very early. They are very robust steel kitchens by Forster dating from 2000.
The motivation behind it: the value already there needs to be better protected and better used. Reuse is a measure that happens now rather than in 20 years: the component exists now, would otherwise be thrown away, and can be acted on directly.
Everyone is still learning a lot and needs to understand which measures make sense where. That takes examples. For all involved, LysP8 is a very large pilot project. It showed that reuse is very feasible within a complex project context when everyone takes part.
For other building projects, BaselCircular lists four steps: record existing components, or those due for demolition, nearby; define key elements such as kitchens at the start of the project; check different possible uses of components; and clarify logistics, meaning deconstruction partners, storage and quality inspection.
BaselCircular sums it up as follows: with early decisions, reuse is feasible in a complex construction context.