Multiplex joins Romulus initiative aimed at spearheading a circular built environment

Multiplex joins ROMULUS, an innovative step towards creating a reusable materials marketplace that aligns with our core values of collaboration and sustainability. Launched by Maconda Solutions, Multiplex joins the City of London Corporation, Eric Parry Architects and Clarion Housing Group in the pilot programme, aiming to make London the "world's most circular city".

City of London Corporation are partnering with circular built environment consultants Maconda Solutions and Upcyclea as founding members to launch ROMULUS - an initiative designed to create public-private partnerships to stimulate a circular economy market in the capital. The groundbreaking initiative is set to establish best practice and provide evidence for targeted policy interventions, and is the only one of its type and scale with the participation of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and DEFRA. 

The initial year-long pilot is endorsed and sponsored by City of London Corporation, making them the first local authority to have direct access to circular insights from live building projects. They will work closely with Multiplex, Eric Parry Architects and Clarion Housing Group as well as other major industry partners. Together, a community of key industry stakeholders will anchor the initiative to drive the increased use of reclaimed materials and trace material flows using a common data template in the form of material passports.

ROMULUS is an invaluable resource for local authorities, developers, contractors and architects alike. It brings the built environment together to share knowledge, develop policy and encourage collaboration. ROMULUS is unique in engaging a collaborative platform with dynamic real-life insights, offering users access to:

• An exclusive community for resource reuse that will use shared audit data and material passports to achieve an unparalleled level of building transparency.
• First-hand engagement with live developments, including access to collaborative stakeholder meetings, to share and learn from circular best practice.
• Real time studies of circular economy building projects across London.

The initiative has been developed by Maconda in collaboration with Upcyclea, as well as leading experts from UK universities within the Build Zero initiative. This means ROMULUS offers robust data on the environmental impact of decisions made by its users – tracking potential savings in carbon, water and waste for recovered materials, as well as financial savings. The largest source of carbon emissions in the Square Mile is commercial and industrial buildings (71%) and so the Romulus initiative is expected to significantly aid the City of London to reach net zero by 2040. 

ROMULUS will focus on London initially, with the ambition of rolling out nationally after the pilot. The initiative supports Multiplex's own decarbonisation strategy, reinforcing our commitment to driving meaningful change in the built environment. It also builds on the success of the materials passport trial at One Nine Elms and Multiplex's ongoing collaboration with Maconda and Upcyclea at Holborn Viaduct, to produce a material passport for developer, Royal London.