Travis Perkins, the builders merchant, has made a video showing how it collaborated with a team from Arup on a new method of construction in which materials are sourced, built, recycled and re-used as part of a continuing process aimed at improving sustainability and quality of living in the future.

(click here to watch the video)

Arups – designers, planners, engineers, consultants and technical specialists – and Travis Perkins worked alongside Frener & Reifer, BAM and The Built Environment at this year’s London Design Week. Together they designed and developed a 'Circular Building' prototype, investigating how the circular economy (CE) can benefit the construction industry and the built environment.

The Circular Building tests the maturity of circular economy thinking in the supply chain and examines what it means for building design; asking questions that profoundly alter design and construction priorities, such as can we design a building where all of its components and materials can be re-used, re-manufactured or re-cycled?

Jez Cutler, Head of Environment at Travis Perkins PLC, said: “The project provided a unique opportunity to understand what distribution challenges exist in a circular economy – for example, in routine building materials like timber cladding and flooring joists.

“We supplied the new material and once the event had come to a close, the house was disassembled and we took all the materials back. This was followed by an examination of the condition, its presentation and value before determining possible re-use or recovery options. Distributors have a crucial role to play in the circular economy and it's clear that strong collaborative linkages with solid supply chain support are essentials to a CE model.”

The London Design Festival is an annual event held to celebrate and promote London as the design capital of the world and act as a gateway to the international creative community.