AI-Generated Summary
CRCLR House is Berlin's first centre for the circular economy, located on the site of the former Kindl brewery in the Neukölln district. The project, which opened in 2022, transformed an existing warehouse into a 3,500 square metre multi-use space for living, working and community activities, using a holistic circular construction approach. The building was extended with an additional storey in timber and concrete hybrid construction.
The project is notable for its pioneering use of recycled and upcycled building materials — approximately 80 percent of construction materials were sourced sustainably. This included repurposed windows from a Swiss residential building, fire doors from a hotel refurbishment, and a range of secondary building materials that would otherwise have been discarded. All materials were tested for safety, and disassembly strategies were incorporated into the design to ensure future recyclability. The interior insulation uses compostable materials including wood panels, clay plaster and wood fibre insulation boards.
CRCLR House is operated by Impact Hub Berlin and serves as both a demonstration project and a working hub for the circular economy community. The space includes co-working areas, event venues, artist studios and residential units. Before the full renovation, the existing building was opened for temporary use, establishing the CRCLR community through events, co-working and cultural programming.
The project has been recognised internationally as a proof of concept for circular construction at building scale, demonstrating that sustainable, circular building methods are not just theoretical but practically achievable. It has been featured by the Circular Material Systems project, Building Social Ecology and numerous architecture publications.
For smart city practitioners, CRCLR House is a tangible example of how circular economy principles can be applied to urban construction and community development.