Biosintrum

When entering the Atrium, where all the meetings take place, you will directly enter an open-plan office with various seating and conferring possibilities. The tree-surrounded sofa, which is placed right in the centre, was realised in collaboration with students of ROC Friese Poort Drachten and Dengo Oosterwolde. The sofa is surrounded by round Gispen Dukdalf tables and De Vorm LJ felt chairs made from recycled PET bottles. A bit further down in the open space you will find large, comfortable Pod Chairs by De Vorm, which have higher sides for extra privacy. There are also high stools for those who want to sit at the bar. All these different seating options allow the users to select a spot that suits their activity best. On the ground floor, there is a large conference room that includes a raised platform, which can be used for guest speakers. There are also conference rooms available for the business community.

The first floor houses both office space and a large conference room. When entering this floor, you will find an open space with different study and workspaces around the Atrium with a view of the ground floor. The first floor also includes Gispen REMADE cabinets. Interior architect Alice Tabak from Gispen: 'These can be used as a telephone booth or workstation. Circularity at its best: the shells of old filing cabinets have been reused and the back panels have been made out of pulverised jeans fabric. Local residents were asked to hand in their old jeans. In addition to its application in the REMADE cabinet, the fabric is also used as an insulation material in all kinds of places throughout the building.'

The conference tables are a good example of the application of biobased materials. For the fabrication of the frames we used old desks from the municipality of Ooststellingwerf, to which solid Woudhout© oak tops were fitted. This wood type is harvested from forests in the Netherlands and Germany that are managed by the Natuurmonumenten foundation. Alice: ‘A fun detail: the coordinates of the trees that were used in the project are milled in the edges of the tabletops. Another biobased product is the acoustic panelling on the walls of the Atrium, made from a mixture of materials based on mycelium (fungal threads). Circular products include the Nomi chair with a recycled plastic shell, clothes hangers from old solid-core desktops and Desso Airmaster Sphere carpet, which is cradle-to-cradle certified.

Are you satisfied with the result?