Tender supervision and application of circular principles in renovation of university building

Circular renovation in bustling inner-city area

For the tender for the renovation of the P building of the Roeterseiland campus of the University of Amsterdam (REC-P), Flux Partners was engaged to guide the tender. REC-P is an old laboratory building (1968) that was converted into an office and teaching building in the late 1980s. Due to an outdated layout and installation design, this building is in need of a thorough renovation. It is a challenging renovation because REC-P is located in a bustling inner-city area. In addition, a nearby large housing project is in the completion phase. The two major challenges: working in a tight inner-city area and limited patience and tolerance from nearby residents. UvA’s wish is that renovation also contributes to achieving the university’s sustainability goals. That is why a significant part of the award criteria of the tender is based on the application of circular principles in the renovation.

Circular advancement with a view to implementation

We carried out several site visits in order to identify bottlenecks and opportunities in the environment. These included revealing the reduced tolerance of the neighbourhood’s residents and the scale of the logistics puzzle. We solved many of the bottlenecks with the use of smart and sustainable logistics methods. Flux Partners drew up an action plan together with the contractor’s sustainability and circularity knowledge carriers. The 10R ladder of circularity (Figure 1) was central to this. We focused on preserving the maximum quality of raw materials and products by keeping them in the loop for as long as possible. We also included lessons learned from previous sustainable (renovation) projects. By working closely with the implementation team, the project manager and the chief engineer, we developed concrete and realistic proposals on circularity. The result: a realistic but progressive plan!

Result

• A circular plan of action with both proven and innovative circular applications
• Mapping out of the opportunities for internal & external application of harvested materials from the renovation

Flux’s strength

• Our knowledge of writing winning tenders combined with content expertise of circular economy
• Distinctiveness via a creative approach