Taken from Forbes
The Matrix ONE office and laboratory building in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, was designed to be disassembled. It consists of bolted and screwed connections, precast concrete slabs, and hundreds of thousands of individual parts that can be separated, removed, replaced, and reused.
Side view of Matrix One, at dusk. Photo: MVRDV-Daria Scagliola.
The six-story, 13,000-square-meter Matrix ONE building not only houses technological and scientific laboratories, but is also itself a laboratory where new spaces for human interaction and architectural solutions focused on sustainability are tested.
A key element of the building's design is its "grand social staircase," an experimental space for people to interact, with tribune-style seating for presentations, tables for informal meetings, and coffee areas, where employees from different areas can meet, network, and share ideas.
To contribute to carbon reduction, the spaces and technical facilities are as flexible as possible: offices can be easily modified to become laboratories and vice versa, and laboratories can be easily upgraded with new systems to adapt to changing standards.
The design and functions of this building bear a resemblance to those of a 'Meccano' set, the popular toy made of metal pieces that can be joined with screws and nuts to create articulated objects, mechanisms, and constructions. Its construction in the heart of the Amsterdam Science Park (PCA), in the capital of the Netherlands, has just been completed.
Matrix One: diagram of the building's layout. Photo: MVRDV-Daria Scagliola.
When it reaches the end of its useful life, or when it is decided to give another purpose to the space it now occupies, this building will not be demolished, but dismantled, since the components of its structure can be separated into pieces, like those of a 'meccano', and 90 percent of the materials used in its construction can be reused.
The Matrix ONE office and laboratory pavilion, designed by the Dutch architecture firm MVRDV, provides the science campus with social spaces and key services across its six floors and 13,000 square meters, incorporating sustainable design and thinking from every possible angle.
Matrix ONE, where dozens of researchers are developing technologies for a sustainable future, is itself an example of innovative sustainability solutions.
Matrix One is home to abundant natural vegetation. Photo: MVRDV-Daria Scagliola.
This philosophy is reflected in its demountable construction, incorporation of "stairs for social interaction" instead of elevators, solar energy generation, smart lighting and a generous amount of bicycle parking, according to MVRDV (www.mvrdv.com).
It is the largest of the seven buildings that make up the Matrix Innovation Centre (MIC), (www.matrixic.nl/en) of Amsterdam Science Park, (www.amsterdamsciencepark.nl), where scientists and entrepreneurs work on solutions for current and future problems.
It houses a combination of offices and scientific laboratories of the University of Amsterdam (www.uva.nl/en), such as the SustainaLab, and of technology and environmental companies, such as Qualcomm, Photanol, Skytree and FUL Foods.
As the main building of the MIC, Matrix ONE aims to be a sustainable example for the other buildings in Amsterdam's Science Park, and beyond, according to MVRDV.
Windows of Matrix One, in Amsterdam. Photo: MVRDV-Daria Scagliola.
Demountable and recyclable building
The building is designed to be demountable. Its simple connections, such as screws and bolts, allow for the separation and reuse of elements when it is necessary to update parts of the building.
Even the building's floors are made with prefabricated concrete slabs without fixed connections, which will allow them to be reused at the end of the building's lifespan, according to its designers.
The Madaster platform (online library of technical information) records all the materials and products used in Matrix ONE, as well as their location, recyclability and environmental impact.
According to information recorded on Madaster (https://madaster.com), this building is made up of more than 120,000 individual components and more than 90% of the building's materials can be reused later.
On the roof of Matrix ONE, 1,000 square meters of solar panels generate some of the energy consumed by the building itself, while internet-connected lighting and heating fixtures help reduce energy consumption, according to MVRDV, which explains that the power for critical laboratory equipment operates on a separate circuit.
Social staircase: an innovative space
Matrix ONE also features experimental spaces for people to interact, such as “the great social staircase”, located next to the main entrance in the southern corner of the building, which has been conceived as a continuation of the zigzag paths found throughout the campus.
This staircase, a key element of MVRDV's design, features tiered seating for presentations, tables for informal meetings, and coffee areas where employees from different industries and departments of the building can meet, network, and share ideas.
The social staircase also promotes a healthy lifestyle, as its location encourages people to use the steps instead of the elevators, which are located further inside the building and accessed through the Matrix ONE atrium.
'Social' staircase, an innovation by Matrix One. Photo: MVRDV-Daria Scagliola.
The interior design of this social space includes walls of a lush green that are visible through the glass facade, as well as soft felt finishes elsewhere, which drastically reduce sound reverberation, providing a calm and intimate atmosphere to the meeting places.
This social staircase is complemented by other human interaction spaces in the building, which encourage the creation and exchange of knowledge, such as a restaurant on the ground floor, a bar at the top of the staircase, and a 100-seat auditorium, according to its designers.
This building has offered MVRDV the opportunity to test a number of carbon-reduction-oriented design strategies they have been researching for the past few years, such as making "both the interior spaces and the technical facilities that serve them as flexible as possible.".
This allows offices to be easily modified to become laboratories and vice versa, and laboratories to be easily upgraded with new systems to adapt to changing standards, according to Frans de Witte, partner at MVRDV.
Central space for social interaction in Matrix One. Photo: MVRDV-Daria Scagliola.
