Reused Materials with Charlie Luxton Design, Material Index, and SOLID Engineering
17:30, Thursday 1st October 2026
JHB 208 (Chakrabarti Lecture Theatre)
We are pleased to invite Constructing Excellence Oxford members to join the Oxford Brookes School of Built Environment at John Henry Brookes Building on Thursday 1st October 2026.
During this session we will hear from an expert panel on the subject of 'Reused Materials in Construction' - specifically
- Examples of what is already happening in London.
- Proposals for how we might build an Oxford Hub for reused materials (with help from other CE Oxford members) to start to create a real circular economy in our local area.
Agenda:
17:30 - Arrivals
18:00 - Presentation
19:00 - Finish
About Material Index:
Material Index (MI) is a team of contractors, architects, engineers and software developers focussed on enabling reuse at scale in the construction industry.
We provide tools to the industry to help contractors, consultants and building owners reuse more materials. You can use our AI Audit app for creating detailed audits with advanced reporting features. You can also buy and sell materials on our marketplace.
We also offer pre-demolition audits, material passports, and material brokerage as services direct for clients, conducted by our expert in-house team.
Speaker Profiles:
Charlie Luxton - Founder and Director at Charlie Luxton Design:
Charlie graduated from the Royal College of Art with a masters in architecture, while simultaneously launching an unplanned, twenty-year career in TV. The experience of working in the television industry fronting programmes on buildings and architecture, with a special focus on residential design, gave him invaluable insights into the problems facing the housing industry.
Charlie has been aware of climate change since the mid 1990s and the responsibility of the construction industry to respond to its challenges. Trying to design buildings that make us healthier and happier whilst improving the natural world around us is core to his principles. Through the work of the practice, he is constantly working to research efficient ways of building and construction.
Charlie regularly gives talks to audiences across the architecture, property, and construction industries about the importance of sustainability in the built environment. He is involved in an award-winning, community-led housing project and community energy projects in his village of Hook Norton.
Charlie is passionate about the environment and communicating his enthusiasm for sustainable architecture and design. He has combined his design work with writing and presenting television programmes for the last twenty years and fronts Building the Dream and Homes by the Sea for More4, amongst others.
Rob Smith - Co-Founder & Managing Director at Material Index
Rob leads Material Index, a digital platform unlocking material reuse at scale through component-level pre-demolition audits and circular economy services.
From FF&E to MEP systems, the platform is designed to realise value from existing building assets—lowering carbon, cost, and waste.
Rob works with major developers and contractors across the UK to operationalise reuse in live projects.
Sean Daly - Director (Founder) at SOLID Structures & Infrastructure
Sean is a Chartered Structural Engineer with three decades of design experience. From a family of builders and engineers, Sean could read drawings and take off quantities from the age of 16.
Driven, energetic and focussed at work, with a particular passion for complex projects with stonework and timber, Sean has been a specialist tutor to Oxford Brookes University first-year architecture students.
Outside of work Sean can often be seen ploughing this drive and energy into hedgelaying and other woodland crafts.
Parking:
Parking on Headington Hill site is available after 17:00 using Trust app.
Please contact jack@thamesvalleysurveying.co.uk if you require any reasonable adjustments.
