The Bråta ReUse Pavilion

The project, Bråta ReUse Pavilion, is a case in the doctoral study conducted by Sigrid Östlund called Regenerative Placemaking, and is located at Bråta recycling centre in Härryda municipality, Sweden. The work done in relation to this project puts into question the role and potential of recycling centres as public space and as centres for waste prevention and reuse. In doing so it has also investigated the potential of using reused materials in design, and what spatial and organisational strategies can help to encourage reuse. 

The project first underwent an investigative exploration through a design studio at Chalmers, Sustainable Building, using utopian driven projective research methods (Janssens 2012). The student projects supplied a furtive ground for discussion and testing of the potential correlation between regenerative waste-to-resource principles, public space and place-making at a recycling centre. 

The students’ research and proposals subsequently provided a basis for the development of a report that compared the utopian driven design strategies they employed in correlation to the visionary goals of Härryda municipality and the pragmatic realities of the physical location and budget constraints for the pavilion. These were divided into different categories based on the degree of correlation with project goals, levels of feasibility and the possibility of implementation over time. 

The project is currently undergoing design-development and will be built in stages to accommodate budget constraints. The first phase will be a building for leaving materials for reuse, built out of reused materials. The second phase (if funding is secured) is a multi-purpose space for activities and information relating to resource consumption, reuse, recycling, energy recovery (incineration) and the environmental impacts of these.