DB Schenker Upcycling Hub Lunchroom

About DB Schenker Upcycling Hub Lunchroom

DB Schenker Upcycling Hub is a lunchroom interior of 400 square metres located in Singapore. The design turns discarded materials into functional features, including a chandelier made of tiles printed from a bespoke filament produced entirely from transparent PET bottles. More than 500 kilograms of single-use plastics were reused in the project. Polystyrene foam from packaging, cardboard from logistic boxes, discarded wooden pallets and recycled rubber flooring were also applied. The aim is to show the potential of upcycling and circular design.

Carlos Bañon's Lunchroom emerges from the intersection of digital fabrication innovation and biophilic design principles, representing a distinguished contribution to the discourse surrounding sustainable interior environments and the transformative potential of additive manufacturing technologies. The installation demonstrates remarkable technical achievement in translating computational design methodologies into physical form, with the central suspended sculpture exhibiting the characteristic pleated geometries enabled by large-scale three-dimensional printing processes while maintaining an organic fluidity that transcends mere technical demonstration. The chromatic environment, suffused with warm rose-tinted illumination, creates a nurturing atmospheric condition that enhances the social function of the lunchroom space while establishing visual coherence between the architectural intervention and its utilitarian purpose. Notable passages of accomplishment include the interplay between the translucent mesh panels and the ambient light source, producing an effect reminiscent of bioluminescent marine organisms or the delicate membranes of sea creatures, thereby connecting occupants with natural world phenomena through technological mediation. The secondary dome-shaped lighting fixtures echo the organic vocabulary of the primary installation while introducing honeycomb surface articulation that references collective natural systems and efficient structural organization. Thematically, the work appears to engage with questions of material transformation and cyclical renewal, with the upcycling methodology suggesting a meditative consideration of resource stewardship and creative redemption of industrial byproducts. The shell-inspired seating elements and the ribbed columnar side table extend the marine biological references throughout the spatial experience, creating an immersive environment that invites contemplation of the relationships between human artifice and natural formal intelligence. Viewers might consider how this synthesis of advanced fabrication, environmental consciousness, and aesthetic refinement proposes new paradigms for workplace environments that nourish both productivity and wellbeing through thoughtful design intervention.