As we close in on about half a century of contemporary architectural design, the sustainability factor features as the most prominent and most necessary for all design concepts today. And what with COP29 just concluded and many countries setting deadlines for achieving lofty goals in short spans of time, sustainability has become a significant necessity today.
According to the World Green Building Council, the construction industry accounted for 30- 40% of global carbon emissions, of which about 10% came from construction materials in 2019, and it has been on the rise ever since. And since materials form the envelope for any structure, a lot of resources go into the construction of any building. Fortunately, the contemporary style of architecture, that is, the current style, focuses on sustainability as a factor that is fast gaining momentum. What is relieving is that architects and designers, in whatever small or big way, are becoming more conscious about how they create structures that are sustainably designed and built, how the spaces are sustainably used, and how the materials are sustainably recycled or disposed of after they become waste.

Sustainability Tools and Techniques
Today, professionals in the construction industry have access to many tools that aid in creating and assessing a sustainable design to facilitate energy efficiency through different stages of the lifecycle of a building, right from idea conception to demolition, if it occurs. BIM Heroes guarantees the use of tools like BIM, Energy Modeling, and LCA for such purposes. BIM (Building Information Modeling) helps professionals to visualize the built structure and its environment, including features like daylighting, air quality, energy consumption, and material analysis. Energy Modeling tools can enable professionals to evaluate the energy performance of the built design and allow them to optimize the different systems to minimize energy consumption. LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) tools help to study the impact of materials used in the design throughout its lifecycle on the environment, aiding architects to make informed decisions on materials that have minimum impact and longer lifespan, including opportunities for reusing and recycling.
Additionally, BIM Heroes, in their article titled ‘Sustainable Design Tools and Techniques: Enhancing Architectural Projects with Environmental Responsibility,’ gives insight into the use of several techniques that can also help in creating a sustainable building environment. This includes passive design, where natural resources come into play. Resources that are in abundance in specific environments, such as sunlight, wind, and shade, can considerably reduce the dependence on artificial sources of energy. Design techniques that allow for regulating indoor temperatures, like the building orientation, placement of openings, use of solar panels on external surfaces, and using the right materials that improve indoor air quality, can be maximized. Water conservation techniques can also be leveraged to efficiently manage water sourcing, flow, harvesting, and recycling.
The materials used in the built structure that forms the envelope are the most significant. Sourcing sustainable materials that are renewable, recycled, or recyclable can drastically reduce the carbon footprint. Choosing and using the right materials can also define the amount of waste created and how efficiently the building performs throughout its lifecycle. Recycled materials are becoming a saving grace for the construction industry in this regard.
Recycled Materials for Facades
Although the styles developed in contemporary architecture may be varied, the need for sustainable building practices is a constant, and using recycled materials innovatively can become the factor that can put them on the map. More and more professionals in the contemporary realm of architecture are looking for ways to reuse or recycle waste materials not just from building sites but from any other industry too. While some may see these materials as restricting since their shape and form are pre-determined, what it presents is the prospect of uniquely incorporating these materials into designs that are cost-effective, time-saving, and beneficial to Mother Earth and, hence, its inhabitants.
Designers and architects have realized that the advantages of this endeavor are more substantial because it reduces cost, reduces waste, and reduces carbon emissions. Furthermore, recycled materials decrease the energy and time that goes into manufacturing, decrease the use of raw materials from nature, and consequently help to preserve and conserve the environment.
10 Examples showcasing the use of Recycled Materials
With that in mind, professionals also realize that facades need not be constrained to the typical or traditional materials and styles but can be extended to differently shaped waste materials. Interesting concepts and designs emerge that tap into the creativity and resourcefulness of the architects, of which the most visible feature is the building’s facades. This is where recycled materials can play a huge part in defining the envelope of the structure, giving it distinctive character as seen in the following projects:
Prahan Hotel, Melbourne
Architects – Techne Architect + Interior Design
Recycled material – Concrete pipes
The project grabbed attention for the use of big, recycled concrete pipes stacked over three stories to look like wine bottles stacked on top of each other signifying the building’s purpose. These concrete pipes also double up as intimate booths with ample views of the city. While the external façade piques the interest, internally, it gave the architects a chance to segregate private, semi-private, and public spaces to give visitors options on seating.

PET Pavilion, Netherlands
Architects – Project.DWG and LOOS.FM
Recycled material – Plastic bottles with caps
This temporary pavilion that serves as a gathering space for the local community was the result of a study in using plastic waste purposed from a recycling plant as a building material. Designed to resemble the Farnworth House by Mies van der Rohe, double-walled transparent corrugated sheets house more than 40,000 plastic bottles. In the morning, the wall allows sunlight into the structure, and at night, the plastic bottles give the effect of an abstract lantern. The project itself was designed to initiate conversations surrounding waste, recycling, and sustainability.

Ningbo History Museum, China
Architects – Amateur Architecture Studio
Recycled material – Tiles
Designing on a site that housed and demolished a structure always presents the problem of disposal of the building waste. In this example, the architects have recycled and used terracotta and clay tiles on the exterior facades as a tribute to the 30 villages that were demolished and a nod to the ‘history’ museum that currently sits on the site. The recycled tiles are packed together with contemporary materials to form a juxtaposition of the old and new.

Luxury Pavilion, Dubai
Architects – Fahed + Architects
Recycled material – Coil springs from bed mattresses
This organically formed structure was created by collaborating with the local waste management company, Bee’ah, and is made up of 100% recyclable and sustainable materials. The outer structure is a mesh that contains 1100 entwined bedsprings, imitating a cloud floating seamlessly amongst surrounding buildings. What resulted was a pavilion that housed narrow corridors and spaces for exhibits but also an uninterrupted view of the outside.

Gallery of Furniture, Czech Republic
Architects – CHYBIK + KRISTOF
Recycled material – Plastic Chairs
The external façade of the furniture gallery serves as an advertisement for its function since the architect used 900 of the furniture company’s plastic chairs. The design program called for a cheap and fast solution to redesign a car showroom into a furniture studio. Using the recycled black plastic chairs solved many an issue for a temporarily rented structure while creating the maximum effect with the firm’s own production.

Vegan House, Vietnam
Architects – Block Architects
Recycled material – Window shutters
Situated in a traditional locality with narrow row houses, the Vegan House stands apart due to its exterior façade made up of discarded window shutters. The architect designed a creative façade with different colored shutters, which was one of the prominent features of traditional Vietnamese residential architecture, paying homage to Vietnamese history. Collected from friends, these abandoned shutters were recycled and now serve to ventilate the interior not just from the exterior wall but also from the roof as skylights.

Bima Microlibrary, Indonesia
Architects – SHAU
Recycled material – Plastic ice cream containers
This elevated structure serves as not just a small library but also a community gathering space for which the ground-level area is utilized. Utilizing 2000 recycled plastic ice cream containers on all four sides of the otherwise simple rectangle structure, the architects aimed to create a functional space that is cost-effective and sustainable. The plastic containers are arranged to read out the message, ‘books are the windows to the world’ in Indonesian language in binary code. Using the white containers allowed for light to easily filter into the space and cross ventilation to happen.

Carroll House, USA
Architects – LOT-EK
Recycled material – Shipping containers
Recycling shipping containers into useable structures has been quite popular with the size, robustness, and uniformity the containers provide. This single-family unit uses 15 steel shipping containers cut diagonally to create a unique and prominent monolithic profile. The cutting and joining of each container help to maintain privacy from the bustling neighborhood but also provide various private open decks that aid in ventilating the space abundantly.

Capilla San Bernardo, Argentina
Architects – Nicolas Campodonico
Recycled material – 100-year-old bricks
Originally housing a rural residence that spanned about a hundred years, the architect used already existing materials and site conditions to design a unique chapel that didn’t contain any utility. With nature as the driving force, the recycled bricks rise up in a curved shape,e opening up to the sky towards the natural sunlight. The original yards have also been dismantled and reused to form the grove where the building rests.

Architects – Footprints E.A.R.T.H.
Recycled material – Various materials
After extensive research to convert municipal waste into materials for this building, the project delved into hands-on research to use recycled resources for structural components. Not only were local materials used, but local labor was also engaged to experiment, so employment opportunities were provided for the local urban poor. Along the site, crate packaging, plastic water bottles, glass bottles, rags, compact discs, metal scraps, electronic hardware, site residue, and much more are visibly converted into walls, roofs, floors, and panels and have become a prime example and inspiration for any designer venturing into incorporating recycled materials.

There are many more examples on similar lines with recycled materials featuring as the main element not just because it is recycled, with the potential to also be recyclable, but also because it is the first thing anyone sees when they come across the built structure. After all, first impressions make the best impression. What would be fascinating to know is the thought process invested by the designers during the designing and, more importantly, into the lifecycle of these facades and, concurrently, the materials if the structure is demolished in the future.
It still waits to be seen how many more architects and designers will face the facts and jump on the bandwagon to integrate sustainable building practices as part of their design and thinking process. This will outline how serious we are as a race in tackling climate change and protecting our environment. Will sustainability just feature as a factor in design, or will it become a thought process that is involved from the time of conception of an idea, a norm that is second nature for all professionals that they need to not think twice about?
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