Client: Municipality of Straubenhardt
Architect: wulf architekten GmbH, Stuttgart
Completion: 2022
Specialist Consultants: Sustainability: EPEA GmbH – Part of Drees & Sommer; Structural Engineering: f2k ingenieure GmbH; Landscape Architecture: Ramthun Landschaftsarchitektur
Photographer: Brigida Gonzalez
The building is among the first in Germany to be consistently planned and realized according to the Cradle to Cradle® principle. The design incorporates aspects of material health, resource efficiency, and circular economy based on C2C criteria. A total of 79 building components and 248 materials were assessed with regard to material health, separability, energy efficiency, and the CO₂ emissions associated with manufacturing and transportation.
To support the future separation and recovery of materials, adhesives, coatings, and plasters were deliberately avoided. The timber construction elements are screwed together rather than glued or nailed, making future disassembly, material separation, and reuse significantly easier. As a result, the building becomes a potential material bank that can be utilized in the future according to urban mining principles.
A key component of the concept is the digital Circularity Passport® – Buildings. It documents all installed materials and preserves essential information, such as disassembly characteristics, to enable future recovery and reintegration into material cycles.
