Modular system for circular buildings

Modular multifunctionality

ADPT is both the name and the program, as the building system can be individually adapted to the needs of the respective users and the specific location in terms of size, materials, and equipment. With its open-use floor plans, ADPT offers maximum flexibility. Whether office, residential, or campus buildings – everything is possible. The building system can be added to, expanded, downsized, and repurposed as needed. The modules can even be easily relocated from one place to another. 

Taylor-made circularity

The design provides for as little high tech as necessary and as much low-tech as possible. Like other buildings, the ADPT modules are made up of different components with different functions and service lives. Since the supporting structure has a much longer life than the façades and building services or the interior finishes, the individual components were separated from each other in the building design and an individual design solution was developed for each of them, allowing for customised recyclability. While the structural design focused on longevity, the façades and building services were designed with recyclability and recycling principles in mind.

Digital learning loops

The ADPT building system was designed using BIM. In the search for the optimal solution, different variants can be played out together in the virtual building. The development from prototype to series production is a circular process with many learning loops. BIM helps to draw the right conclusions from each one. The digital twin also provides transparency on the type, value, circularity and ecological footprint of the materials used. All components are modelled and linked to a digital materials database. This digital cadastre facilitates future recycling - turning each ADPT module into a raw material depot for the next generation of building modules. The development of the circular building system focuses on digital topics. In addition to BIM, digital configurators and logbooks are also being used. ADPT is being developed in a largely digital world.

Tool

Circular Buildings Toolkit

Circular pilot project

ADPT is the first product using the Circular Buildings Toolkit developed by Arup. The circular toolkit is a practice-oriented guidance to optimise planning processes and validate buildings in terms of their resource consumption, carbon footprint, and material value.

Circular business model

ADPT’s circular product design is embedded in a circular business model designed to accelerate the scaling from prototype to series. In addition to being able to buy the building modules or components, customers will be able to pay for their use in the future. This product-as-a-service model reduces resource consumption and thus relieves the burden on the environment. This is because every material that is reused does not have to be produced, thus saving raw materials, energy, and greenhouse gas emissions. This not only makes sense from an ecological point of view, but also pays off economically in view of ever scarcer natural resources and skyrocketing raw material prices.

The first prototype – an urban exhibit

In a co-creative process, Futur2K and Arup, with the involvement of other experts, designed the first prototype of the modular, circular building system. It was part of the exhibition project Folkwang and the City, which took place in Essen from May 21 to August 7, 2022, on the museum’s 100th anniversary. In the 22 m² prototype, visitors were able to experience ADPT’s spatial quality, which was shaped by renewable and recyclable materials such as timber, cork, and recycled tiles made from construction waste, as well as considerations of health, well-being, and comfort for users.