Accoya, the world-leading modified wood, has been used as the principal material in the construction of a ‘Circular Building’ prototype for this year’s London Design Festival.
Engineers from Arup teamed up with Frener & Reifer Construction and BAM Construction to create the prototype, which demonstrates the principles of the Circular Economy. All components within the building are designed to be recovered and re-used at the building’s end-of-life.
Best known for helping to shape ambitious buildings, Arup chose to construct The Circular Economy Building using 550m2 of Accoya for cladding with support from charity The Built Environment Trust.
Accoya was chosen due to its Cradle to Cradle Gold rating and its Platinum C2C Material Health certificate. Carbon negative over its full life cycle, Accoya is also fully reusable and recyclable, supporting the Circular Economy principles the building was designed to support.
Located within The Building Centre on Store Street in London, the Circular Economy Building will be on show during the London Design Festival 2016 until 8 October and will be accompanied by an exhibition exploring the impact of the Circular Economy in a range of industries, from fashion to product design.
The latest installation from Arup comes at a time when the construction industry produces three times more waste than UK households – half of which is not recycled.
Distributed by James Latham wood brand Accoya represents a major development in wood technology and enables the consistent supply of durable, dimensionally stable and non-toxic solid wood. The wood is an ideal material for the manufacture of high performance exterior timber products. Accoya is based on the acetylation of plantation grown softwood and has been considered the gold standard in wood science for over 80 years. Critically, this high performance product is competitively priced to traditional hardwood options and widely available.
Pablo van der Lugt, Head of Sustainability at Accsys Technologies said: "When it comes to the circular economy, a great deal of focus is given to high-tech industries and the techno-cycle materials which they produce. This is perhaps surprising given the non-renewable nature and carbon intensive processes involved in creating these products, especially when high performance, fast growing bio-cycle alternatives such as Accoya now exist.
"As a sustainable bio-cycle alternative, Accoya fully realises the C2C vision and as a company we are committed to manufacturing products in a socially responsible and eco-friendly way. It was with great delight that Arup chose to use a fully bio-cycle compliant material like Accoya to craft the Circular Economy Building.
"With C2C Gold and C2C Platinum for Material Health, 100% non-toxic Accoya can match and outperform high performance techno-cycle materials in demanding applications such as cladding, decking, window frames and structural applications. Once the Circular Economy Building is removed from its location on Store Street, it will be upcycled into outdoor quality MDF boards known as Medite Tricoya Extreme, fully demonstrating Accoya's C2C credentials."
Used for decking, cladding and as planed timber for a variety of projects, the rate at which Accoya is being selected demonstrates the growing demand for stable, durable and sustainable wood which can cope with the toughest of construction and joinery projects.
Made from sustainable softwoods, Accoya offers unrivalled environmental advantages compared to alternative products such as scarce, slow growing unsustainable hardwoods. It also boasts excellent environmental credentials by using wood sourced from FSC certified sustainable forests.