Circular construction: “The Cradle” combines timber, glass and dismantlability

The office building “The Cradle” in Düsseldorf is a practical example of the cradle-to-cradle principle based on the idea that every component is a resource. Even the building skin forms part of this concept with glazing by the glasstec exhibitor Saint-Gobain.

Sustainability is a major driver in architecture. The cradle-to-cradle principle (C2C) is a design and business concept that develops products for closed-loop cycles from the outset. In contrast to the linear “Take, Make, Dispose” model components here are designed in such a way that they can later be reused as high-quality raw materials.

At Düsseldorf’s Medienhafen HPP Architekten jointly with The Cradle GmbH & Co. KG implemented the city’s first timber hybrid office building. 2,150 cubic metres of timber from sustainable, European, predominantly German forestry were used in total. One advantage of this material is its assembly. Many components do not require adhesives as they are joined by plug connections as well as screws. This eases disassembly later down the line.

Alongside timber, glass characterises the façade. Thermal insulation glass with high light transmission by Saint-Gobain is used here. It promotes bright interiors while also reducing solar heat transfer. In addition, there is a second curtain-wall sheet foreseen in front of every second window. This acts as a structural heat and sound insulation and facilitates natural air exchange at the same time.

“The Cradle” was planned to have its materials separable and reusable. All construction materials used were examined and selected on the basis of their material health, clean grade and dismantlability. By project accounts, to the tune of 97.7% of the used components are recyclable or reusable.

In the Interview with Hans Ignacio Scholz, Research Associate at the Glass Competence Center of TU Darmstadt, you can learn even more about sustainability and the reusability of glass.