Yinghao Li

'Modern Infrastructural Ideal' or 'Broken World Thinking'?

The economic growth driven by the combined effects of urbanisation, industrialisation and globalisation leads to the current ‘take-make-dispose model to feed consumer appetites.[1] This linear consumerism results in natural resources are easily extracted/mined, manufactured, and then used before being disposed of at the end of the value chain.[2] This project’s ecological design philosophies emphasise reusing, repurposing, and upcycling building components and materials into buildings with higher circularity to replace this ‘end-of-life’ concept and material-intensive production and consumption.

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[1] Sadhan Kumar Ghosh, Circular Economy: Global Perspective (Singapore: Springer, 2019), 1.

[2] World Economic Forum, "Circular Economy in Cities: Evolving the Model for a Sustainable Urban Future," World Economic Forum, White Paper (March 2018): 7.

Establishing Circular Material Supply Chain

The project creates a “Nutrients [Building Resources] Flow” in Circular Urban Metabolism by channelling used building materials and components to new building sites. 

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Tarleton Gillespie, Pablo J. Boczkowski, Kirsten A. Foot, Media Technologies: Essays on Communication, Materiality, and Society (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2014), 74-75.

Reinventing Existing and Waste Products

Apart from reconfiguring steelwork to roof trusses and reclaiming bricks for cladding, the project locates troublesome waste material, which is quickly filling up landfill sites and is difficult to reuse material, such as broken metal. This material then is reprocessed into a functional, perhaps reusable product.

Architectures of Reuse

The project itself is responsible for collecting and sorting building materials and components at the city level. It offers a unique opportunity to map building resources and collaborate with businesses and residents in closed loops through urban-industrial symbiosis or mediated information exchange.

Retained structures- 11.5%

Reused building materials and components- 29.7%

Reused resources from other demolished sites-  41.3%

New building resources- 17.5%

Initiating Innovative Business Models

The project affords opportunities to expand circular economy into new areas such as collection and reverse logistics, remarketing, component remanufacturing and refurbishment. Reducing use of virgin material reduces exposure to price volatility and supply shocks due to natural disasters or political imbalances. Implementing circular economy concepts promotes wider re-evaluation of supply chains, which can lead to improved resilience.

Site Planning

To improve the street permeability and connectivity, the pre-existing warehouse on 72 Newcraighall Rd is partially demolished for new pedestrian and bike road. A pilotis is further created to free space under the building for street market.

A Boulevard Corridor is designed to connect the building complex directly to the Newcraighall train station for increasing the site accessibility.

GF Detailed Layout - Part1

GF Detailed Layout - Part2

Elevation

69a-73 Newcraighall street elevation and permeability [Top]

View from Regius School and street market access [Bottom]

Plan de coupe 1

Plan de coupe 2

Plan de coupe 3

Wall Details 01

Wall Details 02