Turning old into new: ReDesign through the circular economy

hotel Munich Deutsches Museum Motel One bright room with large double bed
Pilot project at Motel One Munich-Deutsches Museum, December 2023 to April 2024
hotel Munich Deutsches Museum Motel One bright room with large double bed

Turning old into new

Our hotels are regularly given a new design. We continue to use furniture that is still in good condition, or refurbish it. At Motel One Munich-Deutsches Museum, we have gone one step further: as much material as possible from the old rooms should be reused or recycled, rather than ending up in the incinerator.

Grüner Kreis mit schwarzem Sofasymbol und dem Text „Every counts“, der auf die Bedeutung kleiner Details und nachhaltige Entscheidungen im Hotel hinweist.
Nachhaltigkeitsstatistik: 150 Tonnen gesammeltes Recyclingmaterial, 120 Tonnen recycelte Holzmaterialien, 60 % recycelter Anteil bei neuen Schrankeinheiten.

What happened to the old rooms

Reused

Anything that was still in good condition has been kept: the Artemide lights are still hanging in the rooms, and the under-bed storage units have been refurbished.

Donated

We sold off items of furniture that were no longer needed in the hotel to staff at a car boot sale.

Recycled

Our partner Zollikofer collected the cupboard panels and wooden fittings and processed them into wood chips. Pfleiderer uses these to manufacture new wood-based materials. In total, this amounted to around 120 tonnes of material that would otherwise probably have been incinerated. Read more about this in the interview with Pfleiderer

Collected separately

Other dismantled materials were collected separately in containers and sent for recycling.

What has been newly installed

  • Panels made from Pfleiderer wood-based materials containing recycled wood (Duropal HPL, Duropal composite panel P2)
  • New cabinet units containing 60 per cent recycled material
  • Other materials such as carpets, curtains and bed linen with eco-labels; see the list on the ESG page

Step by step

The refurbishment took place floor by floor whilst the hotel remained open. As soon as one trade had finished work on a floor, the next one would carry on there.

  1. Clearing out: Small items of furniture, beds and carpets are removed, either to the storeroom or to containers for recycling.
  2. Preparation: Walls and floors were repaired, filled, primed and levelled.
  3. Walls: New wallpaper and painting.
  4. Flooring: The carpets for an entire floor are laid in one and a half days.
  5. Fitting: New furniture and electrical fittings are installed.
  6. Corridors: Finally, the corridors are given a fresh coat of paint and new flooring to repair any damage caused by moving the furniture.

You can see the result at Motel One Munich-Deutsches Museum.

  • designhotel Deutsches Museum Motel One double bed hotel room unrenovated

    Before

  • designhotel Deutsches Museum Motel One unrenovated room with view of bed without mattress

    Waste wood for recycling

  • designhotel Deutsches Museum Motel One container with old furniture

    Collection of recyclable materials

  • designhotel Deutsches Museum Motel One room renovation

    New cloakrooms

  • designhotel Deutsches Museum Motel One empty hotel room with new wall painting

    Wallpaper and carpets

  • designhotel Deutsches Museum Motel One bed without mattresses unrenovated room

    Almost done

  • designhotel Deutsches Museum Motel One double room with armchair and mural

    Afterwards

What we take away from this

The pilot project has shown that wood-based materials from a ReDesign can be recycled on a larger scale if their removal, processing and collection are planned together from the outset. At the same time, we have launched similar trials for carpets and fittings.

Items in the room

You can find out which materials and brands we use in our rooms – from bed linen to wall paint – on our sustainability page.

SUSTAINABILITY AT MOTEL ONE