Large-scale pilot project reuses concrete from demolished buildings

NuBau Labs, a project founded by Arup and Queen’s University Belfast, is tackling both the issue of waste from demolition sites and carbon emissions from building materials.

NuBau Labs is a €4m Horizon Europe-funded project. The project is particularly focused on the reuse of concrete, which is a challenging material to reuse.

A team from NuBau Labs is developing a pilot factory in London next to the River Thames that will retain sections of demolished buildings that can be reused rather than crushed or turned into low-value aggregates. Components that can be used again will be tested, remanufactured if necessary, and certified as salvaged items.

Project leader Su Taylor from Queen’s University Belfast said that the project sees yesterday’s concrete become tomorrow’s landmarks. The project has the potential to transform how reused materials become part of a circular construction system.

Kerry Greeves from engineering and consulting company Arup says that NuBau Labs takes a different approach to thinking about how materials are used in construction.

“We want to demonstrate how reuse can become viable at much greater scale, creating a model that could ultimately be replicated across cities in Europe.”

The London factory will demonstrate that recovering materials and manufacturing at one site can be done on a large scale.

Revault is one of NuBau Labs’ first solutions. It reclaims concrete, which is then used in the construction of new concrete flooring. This reduces embodied carbon by 70% compared to standard concrete flooring.