The recently opened Circl pavilion in Amsterdam is the first completely circular building in the Netherlands. Materia was one of the companies to advise on the use of sustainable and circular materials.

The pavilion, an initiative of the Dutch bank ABN AMRO, is designed by architectural firm de Architekten Cie. It is a meeting spot for employees of the bank and contains a restaurant, a roof garden, and an exhibition space that are open to the public. It also includes a ‘living lab’, developed along with the Technical University Delft, in which sustainable experiments can be done.

Materia’s advice
Materia has advised on the materialisation for circular applications. To create a circular economy, the materials have to be recyclable and able to be disassembled without damaging them. For instance, the floor covering cannot be glued to the floor. In this case, some concrete visible floors are polished.

Materials
While the building looks and smells new, the pavilion is mainly made from recycled materials. The wooden floor, for example, is made from waste wood, derived from bar stools and a floor from a monastery. The window frames in the boardrooms come from an old Philips office. The building is insulated using material made from 16,000 pairs of old jeans of ABN AMRO employees.

The skeleton of the building is made from new and locally sourced larch wood. The beams are longer than strictly necessary, so that they can be recycled. When the pavilion is torn down, the beams can be turned into standard sized planks. The wood isn’t painted, as that would make recycling it more difficult.

To be used in the pavilion, the materials either had to be recycled already, or be able to be recycled at the end of the pavilion’s lifespan, and had to be clicked or bolted together, without the use of glue.

Challenges
Circl uses energy generated by 500 solar panels on the roof. Rather than coverting the electricity into an alternating current, the pavilion uses direct current, saving energy. Unfortunately, not all electronic devices work on this type of current, which is something to work on in the future.

ABN AMRO recorded its experiences with this project in a report entitled “Toekomstbestendig vastgoed bouwen: Aan de slag met circulaire verdienmodellen” (Future-proof building: getting down to business using circular earning models).

For more information about the pavilion, click here to visit the website.

Images: Architekten Cie