First prototypes of the Circular Kitchen placed in rental properties

News - 01 December 2020 - Communication BK

The Circular Kitchen is a kitchen that is easy to renew and lasts a lifetime. This means less resource use, emissions and waste. The kitchen consists of easily adaptable modules made of high quality, environmentally friendly material. This makes it easy to create variants that are tailored to individual preferences. The first Circular Kitchens are currently being tested in houses.

Pioneering circular transition

TU Delft is conducting research to limit the construction industry’s major contribution to emissions, resource use and waste production. Kitchens are replaced more frequent in comparison to other components such as roofs and facades, because a kitchen’s functional lifespan - how long it meets the user's (aesthetic) requirements - and technical lifespan - how long it functions as intended - are generally much shorter. As kitchens are replaced relatively often, the circular kitchen is an ideal pioneer in the transition to a circular built environment.

Together with industry

Scientists, builders and the market have joined forces to develop a circular kitchen. The Circular Kitchen is the result of a collaboration between TU Delft, the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions, kitchen manufacturer Bribus, Atag, Dirkzwager Groep and various housing associations. 

When will the kitchens come on the market?

Currently a second generation of prototypes is being developed. These prototypes will be tested by residents in the houses of the project partners. In a follow-up phase, the design of the kitchens will be refined. Once the research project is completed in 2022, steps will be taken by the kitchen manufacturer to bring the kitchen onto the market. The kitchen will be further developed with a European subsidy from EIT Climate-KIC. 

Website circular kitchen

To present the research project, the Circular Kitchen website has been launched. On this website you can find out exactly what a circular kitchen is, what makes the kitchen unique and why the research is relevant. There is also room for input and opinions can be retrieved via a survey. 

Take a look at the website.