ABOUT SCRAP LAB
SCRAP Lab
Established in 2024, the SCRAP (Sustainable Circular Reuse in Architectural Practice) Lab within The Boston Architectural College uses applied research to promote, facilitate, and enhance the design and construction material reuse market, exploring multiple scales that can be replicated to seek broad global impact. SCRAP Lab partners with the BAC’s existing Gateway Office’s community-based design projects committed to at least 90% reused and reclaimed materials
MISSION STATEMENT
The SCRAP Lab at The Boston Architectural College exists to confront the built environment's outsized role in global resource extraction, waste, and greenhouse gas emissions through radical collaboration across the academy, practice, and community. We advance applied research, experimentation, and curricular innovation in circular material reuse, deconstruction, and "reuse-first" design. We aim to close critical knowledge gaps in embodied carbon reduction and establish a replicable model for design schools, industry, and diverse communities worldwide.
LITTLE LIBRARY OF LASTING MATERIALS
As part of the SCRAP Lab and the first-year Community Practice course at The Boston Architectural College, this toolkit will serve as a mobile and digital learning resource to teach principles of Material Lifecycles and Carbon Footprint. Designed for use in classrooms and community settings, it will support early design education on how to build and unbuild with sustainability in mind. Compact and flexible, the toolkit will be downloadable and portable, expanding access to schools, libraries, and community events across Greater Boston.
