Circular Buildings: How To Keep Building Materials in Use – ReGen Write Up

This session on circular buildings, led by Jordan McKay (Associate Director at Forum for the Future) and Cressida Curtis (Group Sustainability Director at Wates) set a different tone from the start.

Rather than a formal presentation, the speakers invited the audience into the conversation. The first half focused on sharing ideas and insights, while the second half would be all about questions and discussions.

Meet the speakers

Cressida introduced herself as the Group Sustainability Director at Wates – a family-run business that has been operating for 127 years. She explained that Wates is a purpose-led organisation, focused on building communities for the future and thinking decades ahead of the next generations.

Jordan then went on to describe sustainability as a critical friend to business. He explained that Forum’s role is to help companies deal with the complexities and to create fairer, more inclusive systems for the future. His focus was on justice and making sure that as things move (economically, socially and environmentally), no one gets left behind.

Jordan kicked things off by asking:

Why are we talking about this now? Why not earlier?

Cressida pointed to major policy changes already underway. Speaking about the UK’s Procurement Act, which includes £1.2 billion of government funding and specifically calls for circular thinking in construction, she highlighted that circularity is becoming more than just a term, it is becoming a requirement.

Jordan added that sustainability language is evolving too. We’re now seeing more crossover between circularity and broader business goals. Businesses are setting clear targets, and resource use is becoming more prevalent. He explained that the choice now is whether we move forward in a linear or circular way. Either way, we’re moving.

He then asked Cressida what we actually mean by “circular buildings”.

A fruitcake or LEGO?

Cressida explained that a “circular building” isn’t one with a curved design; it is about how it’s been put together. To explain this, she used a memorable analogy that really resonated with the audience.

She said: “Right now, the construction industry tends to build like it’s baking a fruitcake – mixing all the materials together and sealing them in place. Once it’s done, you cannot unmix them. Instead, we need to build like LEGO; assembling parts in a way that they can be taken apart, reused and reconfigured again and again.”

When Jordan asked why this is important, Cressida shared two hard facts:

• 30% of UK landfill is construction and demolition waste.
• 50% of all raw materials are used by the construction sector.

Put simply, the industry has a major impact on natural resources and waste. We need to start designing for deconstruction from day one so that materials can be reclaimed and reused, rather than sent to landfill.

Time to think differently

Jordan then turned to the audience and asked how many people were already embedded in circularity. About half the room raised their hands.

When the discussion opened up, one audience member, a student at the University of Leeds, shared their research into polymer recycling. The project didn’t quite go to plan, but reflecting on why it failed, they started thinking differently.

Cressida praised this mindset, saying that innovation often starts when things don’t work. Being brave enough to experiment is how we move forward.

Another audience member, from the architecture sector, raised the challenge of material tracking and how difficult it is to follow materials through their lifecycle, especially when they leave a site.

Cressida agreed by saying that it would be great to have full visibility of the material used in every building – potentially like a national database. She joked saying that if she had her way, every building would be scanned, and all materials would be logged.

So, what’s stopping us?

Of course, circularity sounds great in theory, but there are barriers.

Cressida highlighted five major challenges that the industry is facing.

1. The first being aging materials. If a building was constructed 60 years ago, the materials may not be usable or might not be in the same state.
2. Lack of standardisation was the second worry. All materials need to be standardised through following set sizes and formats.
3. To follow this was the uncertainty over strength and how we need to ensure that proper testing can take place so that reused materials are still safe.
4. Storage space was also a concern. Cressida explained that there’s nowhere to keep materials between buildings and with tight profit margins, space is a cost.
5. Finally, she explained that 17% of construction businesses have become insolvent recently so it is becoming increasingly difficult to rely on any business long-term.

Following on from this, Cressida answered another audience member’s question of “how do we get people on board and create a positive narrative around circularity?”

Cressida said that the key is collaboration. No one has all the answers, but everyone holds at least one part of the solution. The more we talk, listen and connect, the faster we can move forward.

Jordan added that while it would be ideal to slowly build support and shift public thinking, time is of the essence. We need businesses to act now, to innovate and reach their targets.

Circularity is no longer optional

This session made one thing clear: we cannot keep building the same way and expect different results. Whether it’s through rethinking materials, sharing knowledge or building new business models, circularity is no longer an option – it is essential.

Now is the time to start putting those puzzle pieces together.