Circular economy strategies are increasingly seen as an important way for achieving climate change and sustainable development targets. However, the implications of the circular economy for the building and construction industry have not been investigated extensively. To address this gap, this study develops an evaluation framework called the Circular Economy Design Evaluation (CEDE) which aims to assess the extent to which circularity has been including in building design and lifecycle stages. The CEDE is presented and tested by being applied to a case study project. The study finds that the application of CEDE identifies circularity gaps and supports the generation of valuable proposals for improving the efficiency and sustainability of the case study project. Further development and testing of the CEDE framework is recommended in order to develop this as tool for creating more sustainable, circular and efficient built environments.