Circular walls Juunoo

The 't Centrum office building is virtually 100 per cent circular, including the walls. For the walls, the contractor called on JUUNOO. The circular philosophy is in the company's DNA. Managing director Chris Van de Voorde gives more insights in an interview.

How did you come up with the idea of manufacturing circular modular walls?

Chris: "I am an engineer with a passion for interior walls. I worked at a company that made walls for stand construction in the event sector in Roeselare. That company scaled up insanely. I worked there as head of R&D. I thought if circular economy and walls work in stand construction, then it must also work in the office environment.

Then I started a company called 'JUUNOO' myself. I was 30 years old when I founded JUUNOO, the company is named after my 2 children. Climate change is happening and we need to start solving it as soon as possible. As an entrepreneur, you can start solving things yourself. That's why I started JUUNOO. In my eyes, my previous executives were not moving forward fast enough to make an impact. With JUUNOO we do want to achieve this, it stands for creating as much impact as fast as possible."

What characterises your walls?

Chris: "You can compare the features to Lego blocks. These are a few standardised elements and with them you can put on any shape, length and height. The inside of the wall consists of steel modules (the body) that are extendable in height. We then go on top of these in a demountable way, with our JUUNOO tape, finishing plates (the skin). The concept is therefore also called 'keep the body, change the skin'. The inside of the wall is always adaptable in height and length and can be reused up to 30 times. The skin, or top plates, you can replace over time. For example, you can turn it into wood tones over time, give it a different colour, ... In addition, you can also choose a basic acoustic wall or you can turn it into a top acoustic wall by choosing a different finishing plate."

Can the product be further developed?

Chris: "We made our own Lego blocks, even there one from the 1950s is still compatible with today's Lego blocks. The same applies to our product. We are of course working on methods to reduce CO2 emissions in our production or do other technical improvements but the product itself is going to be eternally and always backward compatible. The basis of the product is fixed and we are going to keep using it so that a wall that will be sold 50 years from now will still work perfectly with today's wall.

In terms of innovation, first we had the solid walls. Now we have introduced fire-resistant walls and glass walls to the market. We have innovated in acoustic partitions, glass partitions and silence boxes (office phone boxes and meeting boxes). We continue to develop on these three major axes. We are betting on this because we want to offer everything that is needed to furnish an office properly.

The big innovation we are working on now is digital innovation. The product ranges are on point. We have top acoustic values, aesthetics, ... we now want to optimise the user experience for the contractor and builder so he can get a view of his budget very quickly. Including acoustic studies in the software creates even more value. If all those involved can add this info into our digital system, everything will be bundled together. So you get a good view of the residual value and where the materials are. Our digital system is called JUUNOO Voltage, it works in great detail. The aim is for the builder to be able to get information easily so that their work is simplified."

How do you look at the "product as a service" principle? Is there a demand for it? How do you respond to it?

Chris: "You have circular materials that can theoretically be reused, but our focus is on economically circular materials. These are profitable if you reuse them. It is important to earn something from them so that you have a profitable business model."

Upfront Cashback model

How did you contribute to the realisation of 't Centrum? What makes the walls fit into the concept of a circular office building?

Chris: "The walls are designed to be circular. Everything we sell, we also buy back. We are fully committed to circular economy. We earn more on walls that we buy back and sell a second time than with new walls. After 7 years, either the materials come back and the residual value is still paid. With leasing, we look at 36 months. After that, your rate decreases.

At 't Centre, we also applied our upfront cashback model. This is a buy-back model where we buy back the walls upfront. The materials in this project were bought back in advance by JUUNOO such that the builder had to pay less upfront. This is an option for the customers. We are starting to offer leasing walls more and more, mainly for US customers. Customers can reuse their walls themselves, as a second option, JUUNOO buys the walls back and we give them a second life somewhere else, the third option is leasing walls. With these business models, we experiment and learn from them."