The built environment can become more sustainable by gradually replacing building components with circular ones. Kitchens are a logical component to be made circular, given their relatively short lifespan, product-based nature, and affordable prototypes. Since various designs for circular kitchens can be developed, understanding the feasibility of these designs is crucial for their successful implementation. This knowledge, however, remains limited. Therefore, this article aimed to determine which types of circular kitchens are feasible. Circular kitchens available or announced in the Dutch housing sector within the past five years were compared using an adapted version of the CBC generator, a comprehensive design framework for circular building components. The comparison included the Circular Kitchen (CIK), developed as part of an international research project. Data were sourced from manufacturers’ websites and online publications supplemented by interviews with two outliers to verify the results. The analysis encompassed seven circular kitchens, with two developed by established manufacturers and five by start-ups. The manufacturers mostly communicated about their kitchen’s physical design. The established manufacturers’ circular kitchens were found to be more similar to their non-circular kitchens, while start-ups applied more radical innovations. Furthermore, the kitchens that had a frame structure using technical materials or a panel-based structure using biological materials were more likely to be feasible. These findings can facilitate future circular kitchen development by improving these kitchens’ feasibility, thus aiding the transition to a more circular built environment. Furthermore, this research contributes scientifically by adapting a comprehensive design framework (the CBC generator) to compare circular designs.

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The transition to a Circular Economy (CE) requires designers to, more than ever, concurrently develop a circular design, supply chain and business model, and anticipate how products and buildings function over time. To address these challenges, recent studies identified specific knowledge and competencies for designers. However, it remains unknown to what extent future designers (students) are prepared to address the CE in design practice. Therefore, this study investigates how architecture students currently interpret the CE concept and whether that aligns with how they apply the concept in a design assignment. For two years, a workshop was organized with a total of 320 architecture students. The students utilized a card-based circular design tool to conceptualise circular solutions for cases varying in scale and context. According to the students, the main challenge of design for a CE relates to holistic perspectives and systems thinking. The students associate the CE strongly with the reuse of existing (waste) materials, yet results of the design assignment show holistic and diverse approaches of incorporating CE principles. The study identified slight discrepancies between experienced challenges and reported necessary knowledge of designing for a CE, which could relate to the changing role of architects in a CE.

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