VELUX partners with Arup to promote circular economy at London Design Festival
“Circular Building” showcases sustainable and circular building materials
LONDON, 19TH SETEMBER 2016.
The VELUX Group today announces its collaboration with engineering firm Arup, along with Frener & Reifer, BAM and further partners to create the “Circular Building”. The aim is to demonstrate how the circular economy can benefit the industry and the built environment, reflecting on the commercial, social and environmental opportunities of employing circular principles.
The Circular Building is a prototype, designed by Arup, and features award-winning VELUX Modular Skylights (VMS). VMS products are designed in collaboration with Foster + Partners, offering innovative, modular and sustainable solutions for glass roofs in larger building spaces. VMS products have high sustainability credentials, with exceptional energy performance, an expected life of 30 years or more, and easy disassembly and recyclability. No adhesives are used in manufacture or installation and fully modular design means that units can be easily replaced without affecting existing structures.
The Circular Building has been designed and constructed as part of London Design Festival (17th-25th September 2016), an annual event held to celebrate and promote London as the design capital of the world and a gateway to the international creative community.
VELUX is excited to be a partner in the Circular Building. Not only does the project embody many of the sustainability ideals that the VELUX Group has held dear for 75 years, but it also allows us to showcase some of our most innovative products, which are changing the way that architects bring daylight and fresh air into larger buildings,
The Circular Building tests the maturity of circular economy thinking in the built environment. Designing buildings where, at the end of life, all components and materials can be re-used, re-manufactured or re-cycled, profoundly alters design and construction priorities.
Each material in the Circular Building comes with its own QR code containing the information required to allow re-use, and together this information feeds into a Materials Database created using a cloud-based platform from which data has been fed to both the Circular Building website and the BIM model. Both the website and the BIM model can be viewed via QR codes displayed inside the Circular Building.
The Circular Building is open 19th September – 7th October 2016.
At the highest level of engagement about the circular economy we need to start a dialogue about mutual gains, one that influences all stakeholders. The circular economy model can drive innovation and new ways of working; we see this as a way of rethinking design and redesign thinking,
About the VELUX Group
For more than 80 years, the VELUX Group has created better living environments for people around the world; making the most of daylight and fresh air through the roof. Our product programme includes roof windows and modular skylights, decorative blinds, sun screening products and roller shutters, as well as installation and smart home solutions. These products help to ensure a healthy and sustainable indoor climate, for work and learning, for play and pleasure. We work globally – with sales and manufacturing operations in more than 36 countries and around 11,000 employees worldwide. The VELUX Group is owned by VKR Holding A/S, a limited company wholly owned by non-profit, charitable foundations (THE VELUX FOUNDATIONS) and family. In 2022, the VELUX Group had total revenue of EUR 2.99 billion, VKR Holding had total revenue of EUR 4.29 billion, and THE VELUX FOUNDATIONS donated EUR 181 million in charitable grants.
For more information about VELUX Group, visit velux.com.