Re-use not recycling

There's a really interesting piece on the AJ's Footprint blog covering a workshop on demolition and recycling. So many calculations about embodied energy make assumptions about what will happen to materials at the end of a building's life, that it is fascinating to learn about what is done in reality, about the potential and the pitfalls. The holy grail, of course, is to actually re-use materials, ideally in situ. It was enlightening to see how little brick was actually re-used at the Olympics. On contrast, at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, 90 per cent of the brick from the previous building is being used - perhaps a question of scale? The re-use is assisted by the fact that the original building was old enough to have used lime mortar, which is much easier to break up than modern, cement-based mortars.
The AJ article also looked at Oxford Wood Recycling, an admirable organisation that belies its name by concentrating on re-use and recovery rather than recycling. It is unable to satisfy demand, an indication that there is certainly room for more such enterprises - especially if the demolition industry can get organised.

Inspiring architecture for Everyman in Liverpool

I had a fascinating day in Liverpool on Saturday, looking at the construction site for the new Everyman Theatre and having a whistlestop tour of the city, after visiting a photography project to use pictures of local people on the building's facade. What was extraordinary was the level of engagement, the fact that although this is a relatively major project that has had to jump through the usual hoops of funding and planning, it was loved, on an individual level, by so many people.
The contractor, Gilbert Ash, had been brought in because of its exemplary work on the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. The artistic director of the theatre, Gemma Bodinetz, was excited and on top of every detail if amazed she was in charge of such a project ('My husband told me it took me five years to get the colour of our kitchen wrong,' she said). The architect, Steve Tompkins of Haworth Tompkins, is so 'hands on' with his projects that on several of them he has actually completed bits of work to his satisfaction - a bit of deliberately rough plastering, washing off just the right degree of  fines on the concrete, or getting his entire office making light fittings.
All these people have track records, so their attention to detail is evidently commercially viable, if not a way to get rich. It just takes dedication - and giving up Saturdays. At a time when we are so oftentold finance  demands the lowest common denominator, it was inspirational to see such a different approach.