Architectural practice and the circular built environment transition: empirical insights from Australia

Circular Economy (CE) adoption is considered a crucial decarbonisation pathway for the built environment, offering the potential to reduce emissions, waste, and material consumption. However, CE implementation remains challenging, lagging the timelines required to meet the 2050 climate neutrality goals. To deepen the understanding of these challenges, the study focuses on architects as influential mediators in building projects and their potential role as key enablers in the CE transition. The study draws insights from Australia, where per capita emissions are among the highest globally, but empirical investigations remain limited. Probing the sustainability aspirations of the architectural profession against the reality of practice, the study adopts a phenomenological approach to explore the architects’ perspectives on the CE transition. Employing in-depth semi-structured interviews with architectural professionals (n=12) and thematic analysis, the study reveals current perceptions and practices of CE and identifies key barriers and enablers to its adoption. The study identified policy gaps, knowledge and data gaps, organisational constraints, market immaturity, and cultural inertia as barriers. Conversely, collaborative project delivery, capacity building, strategic use of legal and procedural tools, and demonstration of CE value through standards and exemplars emerged as enablers. The findings provide nuanced, actionable insights to inform CE policy and architectural practice, advancing CE adoption in the Australian built environment. The study highlights that the CE transition entails a broader social transformation within the architectural profession and strong government and industry leadership to ensure a just and empowered transition. Lastly, the empirical findings contribute to circular architecture and building decarbonisation scholarship, offering comparative insights for other geographies and building sectors towards a low-carbon future.