Location
Mount Vernon, WA 98274
In 2025, some of the most ambitious urban projects are discarding the old ‘linear’ model of design-where buildings are constructed, used, and demolished-replacing it with a circular framework. The concept is simple: treat materials, energy, and even space as resources in a continuous cycle, rather than as one-way streams. For architects and planners, this means designing structures to be easily disassembled, materials to be reintroduced into the supply chain, and infrastructures to support renewable lifecycles.
One striking example is Rotterdam’s Kralingen Circular Hub, a pilot project launched this summer that transforms a former industrial lot into a mixed-use community built entirely from reclaimed concrete, steel, and timber. Each apartment unit was fabricated with modular joints, ensuring that when residents move or the community transforms, the components can be repurposed without extensive demolition waste. Even the street pavers were sourced from surplus stock diverted from other renovation projects across the Netherlands.
In Asia, Singapore’s 2025 Circular Skyline initiative is pushing the concept even further. High-rise towers are being designed with embedded material passports-digital records tagging every beam, floorplate, and facade panel with details about composition, lifespan, and recycling pathways. When the building eventually changes function decades from now, each component will remain traceable and recoverable, dramatically reducing construction waste and preserving material value.
Circular thinking isn’t just about what buildings are made of-it’s also about how communities thrive. In Montreal’s Parc Vert pilot neighborhood, wastewater is harvested and purified on-site, fertilizing rooftop farms that in turn fuel neighborhood markets and restaurants. Food waste cycles back as compost, powering anaerobic digesters that produce energy for district heating. The result is an ecosystem of loops where nothing is truly
