Over nine months we were able to set up and run a Circular Material Hub in one of the most prestigious design universities in the world, at Central Saint Martins. It was called the Swap Shop. Unfortunately, we had to close the Hub in June 2023 due to a lack of funding.
What was the Swap Shop?
The Swap Shop was an initiative conceived by the Climate Emergency Network and UAL students and technicians, originally set to facilitate material swapping between students and staff and then optimised as a permanent space powered by Renée Materials.
The Swap Shop was a space dedicated to unwanted or unused materials from within the building that were then creatively re-used and re-purposed by the students. The system helped UAL’s community save money whilst reinforcing an important message about the difference between “end-of-use" and “end-of-life".
How did it work?
Students came to the Swap Shop and either drop off, pick up or borrow displayed materials.
All the materials were either donated by the University’s workshops, facilities, staff and students or by external companies or organisations that are part of Renée’s network, such as G.F Smith, Wellcome Collection and the Royal Opera House.
The Hub was open 2-3 times a week. And we thoroughly monitored our impact by keeping tack of the materials that were dropped off and picked up at the Hub.
Students were also asked to follow up with the Swap Shop through pictures of the material’s transformations. Some of them can be found on our Instagram. This helped the Material Hub keep up with the item's life and students shift their perception around waste and free resources, whilst enabling more circular behaviours in the creative field. All the offcuts, or the finished product, if unneeded, could be brought back to the Swap Shop, ready to be creatively reused by someone else.
