LEGAL ADVICE

TECHNICAL ADVICE

DESIGN

We are currently working on a package of legal documents that clarify the ownership and liability for structural elements throughout the reuse process. This will reduce the systemic barriers for wider integration of reclaimed beams, columns, walls, slabs, etc. The documents will be made publicly available via our website from Q1/2026.

This is not the Louvre.

This is Denmark‘s yearly concrete waste piled up next to Copenhagen‘s city hall. This is not waste, this is a resource.

Potential of structural elements:

Obsolete buildings are often structurally sound before transformation or demolition which usually occurs for reasons unrelated to material quality or structural integrity. Concrete structures often undergo low-value recycling, being crushed for road bases or backfilling purposes rather than being preserved at the element scale and used in a load-bearing context.

What is structural reuse?

The load-bearing structure of a building contains up to 80% of the embodied carbon and makes up for up to 60% of the mass. Structural concrete reuse involves salvaging and repurposing entire concrete elements (such as beams, columns, or slabs) from demolished buildings for use in new construction, reducing waste and carbon emissions.

demolition atlas

Link to a collaborative atlas that maps buildings in Germany that are at risk of demolition.

Where is the European atlas? Please reach out if you want to help us!

Prevent demolition at European scale: Sign House Europe! European citizens' initiative