From Price Tags to Store Infrastructure

Reuse of Prix Garantie Price Tags

The story of the Coop Prix garantie material transformed into a store infrastructure for the new Kaiserhaus in Bern begins not with a blueprint, but with a discarded price tag.

This journey took shape when Ivo Baldini from kunstoffsammelsack (ENGA's plastic waste collection partner and part of ENGA) organised a visit to our partners recycling infrastructure, alongside Coop members. It was here that a spark was ignited. Coop recognised the potential in transforming these everyday plastic price tags, once used in every Coop store across Switzerland, into something entirely new.

Made of high-impact polystyrene (HIPS), these price tags were no longer needed at Coop, yet they held immense promise. After the visit, a partnership was initiated between Coop and Kunststoffsammelsack & ENGA, known for its expertise in recycled materials, to pioneer a circular design process. The tags were sent to ENGA's partner companies, Upboard and RecoPlast, where they were ground down into fine plastic flakes. These flakes were then mixed with fire-retardant additives to ensure the new material was safe for interior us and cast into large 20 mm sheets.

In parallel, ENGA teamed up with Samuel Métraux Architecture, the firm tasked with designing the entire Kaiserhaus store concept. Drawing on ENGA's material expertise, the architects integrated the recycled sheets into a bold design narrative.

However, the project did not rest on aesthetics alone, ensuring safety was paramount. So ENGA worked closely with the Swiss fire authority, refining the material composition to meet strict safety regulations. A final recipe with 10% of fire retardant additives was developed, tested by ENGA, and approved by the fire authority.

Once the concept was finalised, ENGA led the detail design, manufacturing and project management, working hand-in-hand with GEWA, their CNC manufacturing experts, to craft the final shelving.

ENGA also managed the installation of the finished shelves within the steel construction, developed in close collaboration with and manufactured by Stahlwerkstatt Bern.

From start to finish, ENGA orchestrated every step, ensuring feasibility, quality, and timely delivery. What began as a discarded label has now become a cornerstone of a forward-thinking retail space, proving that even the smallest elements can shape a significant and sustainable future.

With this project, ENGA demonstrated that materials, considered as waste, can be reused in new projects, replacing the need for virgin material extraction and enabling a meaningful impact on sustainability within the interior design industry.