Who will run the urban mines of the future?

Danish architect Anders Lendager is one of the most radical pioneers of circular construction. In this interview with Jakob Schoof, he explains how architects can help end the throwaway society. The interview was published in the new book Architecture and Climate Change by Edition Detail.

You are an architect, but you also run a consulting firm and, until recently, have been involved in a number of companies that manufacture building products. How did that come about?

As an architect, I know that clients ask about cost whenever the subject of sustainability comes up and I’ve seen how little established manufacturers cared about recycling building materials. So I realized that I had to take care of those things myself. Today, we advise companies and municipalities who want to find out what materials are used in their building stock. This often leads to building projects for my architectural practice – and in turn to a demand for upcycled building products. To satisfy it, until a few weeks ago I ran a development and production company for recycled building products. I have now sold this company to investors, which I think is a milestone for the circular business model that we have established.

That’s not an everyday business model for an architect.

In my case, it was necessary. And I think as architects we can’t afford in the long run to always be drawing grand plans and letting others bear the financial risk for them.

Architecture and Climate Change. 20 Interviews on the Future of Building, © Edition Detail, 2024

You say that recycled building materials don’t have to cost more, and are often cheaper than new ones. What can be done to ensure this actually happens?

Of course, it depends on what you’re reusing. For example, decking from reclaimed wood is easier to produce at a competitive cost than recycled concrete or the brick facades for our Resource Rows project in Copenhagen. But as a rule, the building products we develop from recycled material aren’t more than 10 % more expensive than new comparable products. And after we use them on two or three construction projects and increased their production volume accordingly, they often become 50 to 70 % cheaper.

Find out more in the new publication Architecture and Climate Change. 
A look inside the book: Browse here