Companies, educational institutions and hospitality clients use Vitra furniture from a second lifecycle wherever function, aesthetics and sustainability need to come together. Compared to buying new, this results in up to 90% fewer CO₂ emissions — with the full Vitra Circle warranty. A selection of realised projects.
While the main building of the School of Design Bern and Biel, founded in 1971, undergoes extensive renovation, the school has relocated to Bernapark — a repurposed industrial site — for a period of around ten years. The move is seen as an opportunity to redefine both the school's educational vision and its learning spaces. Furniture from Vitra Circle for Contract is part of this concept, supporting an approach in which circularity is not only taught but experienced in daily work.
START Global, a student association with more than 100 members organised much like a mid-sized company, has equipped its new campus almost exclusively with second-hand and refurbished furniture. Collaboration and hospitality areas form the spatial centre of the project. The ambitious goal of more than 90% circular furniture was achieved through professional logistics, a central warehouse and close cooperation with Vitra Circle for Contract.
To shape the new working environment, the Consulting & Planning Studio worked with ARaymond in a series of workshops to analyse existing work processes and structures. A pilot office was set up at the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, allowing employees to test the new way of working in advance. The building was furnished with selected existing pieces, new Vitra products and refurbished items from Vitra Circle for Contract. The circular approach forms part of a comprehensive sustainability concept that prioritises natural, recycled and regionally sourced materials.
Echt, an agency focused on neuroscience-based brand development and packaging design, has moved from an outlying location to the centre of St. Gallen. Working with Vitra's Consulting & Planning Studio (CPS), two objectives shaped the planning: sustainable action and the encouragement of creative collaboration. Existing furniture was retained — and wherever additional pieces were required, only refurbished items from Vitra Circle for Contract were used in place of new products. The result is a space with desk-sharing, co-creation areas, project rooms and zones for focused work.
ViCOLLECTIVE — the young company behind the ViCAFE and Vivi Kola brands — accompanies coffee along the entire value chain. The roastery and coffee bar, set in a listed former Swiss Federal Railways factory building, combines a coffee bar, in-house soft-drink production, roastery, cupping lab, bakery, event space and workstations. Refurbished Eames Fiberglass Chairs from Vitra Circle for Contract define the interior — a circular approach that reinforces the brand's commitment to an authentic, transparent coffee experience.
With the Alnatura Campus on the site of former barracks in southwest Darmstadt, the organic retail company has put its highest standards of modern work culture and sustainability into practice. In collaboration with Vitra, an open working environment was created in Europe's largest office building with a clay façade — featuring work islands, meeting zones and quiet retreats. Alnatura had already used Vitra products at its previous site. As many of these pieces remained fully functional even after up to 25 years of use, they were deliberately integrated into the new layout — a tangible example of the longevity that makes the Vitra Circle for Contract offering possible in the first place.
Business clients from the office, education, higher education, research and hospitality sectors. Reference projects include the University of Bern, the School of Design Bern and Biel and the START Global campus in St. Gallen.
From small offices with ten to fifteen workstations through to projects with several hundred workstations.
Up to 90% in CO₂ emissions, depending on the product and the scope of refurbishment.
