vienna’s construction waste becomes recyclable furniture for canteen by studio dreiSt

Studio dreiSt turns vienna subway waste into tile glaze

Bioregional design practice Studio dreiSt unveils Biofabrique canteen, the modular hospitality area of Vienna Design Week 2024. Designed in collaboration with the material-driven project Biofabrique Vienna, the canteen features 1,700 handmade ceramic tiles glazed with metro excavation clay, showing how materials like clay from Vienna metro construction sites and residuals from food production can be transformed into long-lasting, recyclable building components. The golden-brown surface of the ceramic glaze is derived from subway excavation clay and carbolime, while energy-efficient materials like Carbo and Adobe bricks are used for bar tables and counters.

transportable bar and decomposable table bases fill the canteen

Studio dreiSt works with Biofabrique Vienna to explore the potential of urban waste in fueling a circular construction industry during this year’s Vienna Design Week. Every element of the Vienna-based team’s Biofabrique canteen, from its transportable bar to decomposable table bases, is crafted to endure beyond the festival’s timeframe, finding new uses or locations in the future. By repurposing urban waste, such as carbolime and spent grains, the project puts the role of bioregionality in reducing reliance on natural resources under the spotlight and demonstrates local materials can be reintegrated into urban development. 

Biofabrique Vienna is a pilot project by the Vienna Business Agency and Atelier LUMA, a programme of LUMA Arles, in partnership with the Institute of Architectural Design, TU Wien, aimed at converting unused local resources into recyclable materials for architecture and design through a collaborative process involving experts, students, and local industries.

project info:

name: Biofabrique Canteen
designer: studio dreiSt | @studio_dreist
collaborator: Biofabrique Vienna
photographer: Paul Sebesta | @paul.sebesta

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