William McDonough, Founder of William McDonough + Partners (WM+P), is attending the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week. This year marks the fifth year that he has overseen the assembly and disassembly of the ICEhouse™ (Innovation for the Circular Economy house) in Davos, which Hub Culture operates as a meeting place for participants to discuss the future of the Circular Economy.
Designed to embody WM+P’s Cradle to Cradle Design™ framework, the structure embraces key Circular Economy strategies including Design for Disassembly and Products As A Service. The ICEhouse is primarily composed of what are referred to as “technical nutrients,” which can be endlessly recirculated in industry including aluminum, polymer, aerogel and Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Shaw carpet tiles. After use, the carpet tiles can be returned to Shaw to be separated and recycled for future reuse as carpet. ICEhouse sponsor SABIC provides their LEXAN™ sheets and systems for the walls and roof, which, like the other elements, can be returned to industry and endlessly remanufactured in the Circular Economy without a loss in quality.
The ICEhouse was also an early experiment in employing the WonderFrame™, which McDonough designed as part of a broader vision for a simple structural system that could be assembled quickly to accommodate a range of uses. WM+P has since expanded the use of the WonderFrame to other projects such as an academic building for Universidad EAN in Bogotá, Colombia.
The ICEhouse is a result of the close collaboration between McDonough Innovation, Sabic and Hub Culture. WM+P designed the ICEhouse™ and it was built by WonderFrame, LLC.
Click here to learn more about the ICEhouse.
