How can cities be thought of as raw material stores of the future? And what does it take for urban mining to work in practice? In the latest episode of ArchitecturistPodcasts host Alexandra Busch addresses exactly these questions — with a particular practical example: the Patrick Henry Village (PHV) in Heidelberg.

As a project manager at EPEA — Part of Drees & Sommer was Dr. Matthias Heinrich guest in the episode and gave insights into the scientific support of the project. Together with the City of Heidelberg, it was investigated which potential lies dormant in existing buildings, how buildings can be digitally recorded and how components can be systematically evaluated for their reusability.

Among other things, the discussion includes:

• the Urban Mining Screener as a digital planning tool,
• resource passes and material databases such as Madaster,
• political and economic framework for circular construction,
• and the question of why urban mining never has to be considered in general terms, but always on a project-specific basis.

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A big thank you to Alexandra Busch, founder and host of the podcast Architecturist, for the inspiring conversation and the opportunity to share our knowledge and experience about urban mining.

We are delighted when the episode reaches many listeners and contributes to continuing to think ahead with the transformation of our cities into a circular city in a bold and differentiated way.