Is there value in quirky ‘green’ design features?

Should we line buildings with recycled jeans for insulation – or would that be written off as a slick marketing ploy to get people talking?

That’s not a hypothetical question. Recently over lunch, an architect asked me if I’d heard of a building in Amsterdam that did, in fact, use old jeans as insulation.

The building in question was Circl – a mixed-use development built on the premise of packing in as much recycled materials as humanly possible. Even the on-site restaurant is in on it, using vegetables “rescued” from being thrown away.