Office space for Rotor and friends
Due to the high price for the disposal of mixed waste, most demolition contractors first organise the dismantling of all interior elements before pulling down the walls. For the interior design of our new office space in rue de Laeken, we visited several deconstruction sites where demolition was thus being prepared. We were impressed by the quantities and quality of the materials we encountered. We came across noble materials such as marble or hardwood, but also kilometres of office lighting, hundreds of fire-resistant doors with stainless steel hardware, not to mention huge amounts of re-usable plumbing elements, bathroom sinks, radiators, etc.
Heavy steel beams from a demolition yard in the Anneessens neighbourhood have been used for our mezzanine. The spiral steel staircase, was found on the boardwalk a few streets further. Much of the wood panels we used were found in the dumpster of the Monnaie Opera house that was refurbishing its bar. The ceiling lights were saved only hours before they would have been smashed to give way for the new Brussels Casino at De Brouckère. For the furniture, we mostly used rejects found in containers at several large office buildings.
Working on this project helped us realise that, far more difficult then convincing demolition companies to give access to demolition sites, is the organisation of the transport, handling and distribution of the concerned goods. There are several organisations around the world that provide interesting solutions to get round these obstacles.
Among them is the American organisation, The Reuse People, that salvages demolition yards and resells the released materials in second hand building materials shops. Since their start in 1993, they diverted more then 200 000 tons of materials from landfill. Most organisations active in this domain combine ecology with social economy: they create accessible jobs that allow difficult target groups to quickly gain enduring knowledge, while selling cheap materials that can be used for renovations.
We think a similar project could be meaningful in Brussels, and should be investigated.
Designed and realized by Maarten Gielen, Tristan Boniver and Lionel Devlieger for Rotor. With help of Koen Daems, Ariane d'Hoop, Christophe Wullus & Lasj Tsintsadze.
Pictures credits : Eric Mairiaux