This building in Amsterdam is almost 100% reusable
Dutch architecture firm MVRDV has completed Matrix One, a six-storey energy-efficient office and laboratory building with more than 120,000 reusable components.
The building is the largest of the seven buildings that make up the Matrix Innovation Center at Amsterdam Science Park, which serves as a hub for scientists and entrepreneurs developing solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges.
Matrix One is designed for disassembly: almost everything, from doors and windows to ceilings and furniture, is completely demountable and reusable. Even the floors are made of prefabricated concrete slabs with no fixed joints – they can be simply unscrewed and removed.
MVRDV teamed up with Dutch startup Madaster to create ‘material passports’ for the building. These digital IDs store important information about each part, such as weight, dimensions and material characteristics, which promotes efficient reuse later on.
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Once the building reaches the end of its useful life or is renovated, these components may be available for purchase on a second-hand marketplace (think eBay for buildings). According to MVRDV, 90% of the building’s materials can be reused.
“We hope that in the future all buildings will work like this,” says MVRDV partner Frans de Witte.
It is currently under construction and demolition responsible for a third of all waste generated in the EU. Making the sector more circular – i.e. minimizing waste as much as possible – is a top priority for the Dutch government, in line with its stake to transition to a fully circular economy by 2050.
Parallel to the drive for circularity is the reduction of the ecological footprint of buildings and infrastructure account for no less than 37% of global CO₂ emissions. Projects such as Matrix ONE act as testbeds for many of the technologies needed to minimize these effects.
“Matrix ONE provided us with an excellent opportunity to test a number of carbon reduction strategies that we have been exploring for some time,” said de Witte.
The roof of Matrix One is covered with a 1,000 m² solar panel, the rest is devoted to greenery to improve insulation. Lighting and heating are controlled by sensors and via a telephone app to reduce energy consumption.
Matrix One also has a restaurant on the ground floor, a bar at the top of the stairs, a 100-seat auditorium and bike storage.
