At the end of last year, the Riga Energy Agency opened a circular economy space, Sadarbnīca, in the Brasa neighbourhood, where everyone in Riga can learn about the principles of circularity, as well as use an open-access workshop to repair or improve their belongings. The interior design of Sadarbnīca, nominated for the National Design Award of Latvia 2025, is also based on circularity principles. The design team, led by Tandeems, has creatively used mostly recycled materials, giving them a second life.
Supporting Riga’s goal to achieve climate neutrality by 2030, the Sadarbnīca aims to provide education and hands-on activities to demonstrate the possibilities and positive impact of the circular economy not only on the environment but also on their personal resources. Sadarbnīca features a woodworking workshop where anyone can repair, modify, or create their own furniture and other household items under the guidance of a master craftsman, a community space where various sustainability and circularity-related lectures, exhibitions, and masterclasses take place, and is also open for citizen-initiated events.
«We wanted the circular economy space in Riga to convey a message of circularity even before any of its employees had started talking about it. This means that the design of the space should be creative and interesting, demonstrating solutions based on the circular economy,» says Ieva Kalniņa, project manager at the Riga Energy Agency (REA). The design of the space was inspired by an idea competition for Latvian university students and was created by a team of authors — Tandeems, Kārlis Jaunromāns, Alīna Beitāne, Kristaps Butāns, and Fix Trix — who sought creative uses for various recycled materials and objects.
About 75% of the materials used in the Sadarbnīca furnishings came from other sites and would have ended up in a landfill. The design of the space and the interior objects created for the space demonstrate how things that have lost their relevance can continue to be useful in ways that are radically different from their original function. Discarded fire hoses have become seats, electrical wires have been woven into a decorative dividing wall (by Elīne Buka, Nicole Lee Zvaigzne, and Verners Skalbins), and the glass domes of an old-fashioned chandelier have become flower pots. The materials used are complemented by 3D-printed parts, material scraps, and easily dismantleable joints.
According to the authors of the design, the interior of Sadarbnīca aims to go beyond the low aesthetic standards of DIY and create a design that shows the potential of the circular approach. However, following the «throw nothing away» principle is not easy in all situations and requires a flexible approach and creative thinking on the part of the designer. For example, what to do with the suspended styrofoam ceilings that all architects and designers hate? In Sadarbnīca, the designers have created plywood recesses in the ceiling, thus adding diversity and spatiality to the previously monotonous plane. Finding the right combinations of materials is just as important. The highlight of the community space is the 9.6-meter-long display shelving system, made from old wardrobe metal structures and concrete blocks, which is the longest shelf known to the authors, reinforced with 3D-printed joints.
The authors reveal that the interior design process of Sadarbnīca was very different from the usual approach, where a design vision is first created, a palette of colours and materials is developed, and then the appropriate products are selected. In this case, the design process started with the collection and selection of materials, as well as a general familiarisation with the materials most often discarded during the construction process. To start, the Tandeems team surveyed several construction sites, collecting data and material samples. This was made possible thanks to the cooperation with the State Real Estate agency, as well as the construction company ReRe Meistari, which allowed designers to look into the piles of materials leaving the construction site. The authors stress that the challenges of recovering materials from the construction waste stream show that the development of a circular economy should address these processes in a systemic way. However, the design of Sadarbnīca demonstrates that it is possible to create a contemporary and attractive space from old and unnecessary things.
The Sadarbnīca space of the circular economy is located at Krišjāņa Valdemāra iela 145, K-1. The project has been nominated for the National Design Award 2025 in the Environmental Design category.
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