Rotor Deconstruction, or Rotor DC, is a worker-owned cooperative near Brussels that specialises in dismantling and reselling building components taken from large construction sites. According to its own description, it focuses on interior finishing materials such as doors, flooring, furniture, lighting and hardware, which it dismantles, processes and trades through its warehouse and shop in the Brussels region.
The organisation emerged as an autonomous side-project of Rotor, a Brussels non-profit founded in the mid-2000s that researches material flows and reuse in construction. After several years of pilot projects, Rotor DC was incorporated as a separate cooperative around 2016. Its growth has since outpaced that of the original non-profit in staff numbers, according to interviews with Rotor members.
Rotor DC structures its work into four teams: an “IN” team that sources materials and builds partnerships; a Process team that restores and documents components; a Shop team that handles sales, storage and logistics; and a fourth team for administration and management. The cooperative is entirely owned by its employees, with several dozen collaborators listed by name on its site.
Recent activities include large-scale salvage operations in office buildings, the repair and transformation of lighting equipment, removal of mortar from ceramic tiles, reprocessing of urban wood and preparing reused furniture for new interiors. Rotor DC also supplies other design and architecture projects, including those by Rotor, and collaborates with demolition contractors and real-estate owners who deliver materials directly. The company maintains a policy of avoiding unpermitted demolitions and requiring proof of ownership for all items passing through its shop.