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Construction has begun on MVRDV’s six-story sustainable office and laboratory complex. Located in the heart of Amsterdam Science Park, in the eastern part of the city, the project, designed for the Matrix Innovation Center, “will be virtually energy neutral and uses demountable construction techniques”.
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MVRDV has designed an innovative addition to the Amsterdam Science Park and the six existing buildings of the Matrix Innovation Center, where “scientists and entrepreneurs work on sustainable solutions for current and future problems”. Connected with an open staircase to the campus, the intervention is an open building generating a social work environment. Inspired by the campus path network, the zigzag shape of the stairwell creates spaces for work and meetings. Providing a balance in the building between the standardized laboratories and playful, people-oriented architecture, this element with its striking glass facade becomes a beacon on the site.
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Expected to be delivered in 2022, Matrix 1 can be “disassembled at the end of its lifespan to allow 89% of the materials to be reused later”. In fact, the steel support structure and the concrete floors of the 13,000m2 building are demountable. Targeting a BREEAM-Excellent certification, most surfaces have been repurposed for ecological functions such as the roof that contributes to climate, biodiversity, and water buffering with greenery and solar panels.
Perfectly integrated into Amsterdam Science Park, the sustainable construction fits well with the spirit of the University of Amsterdam according to Frans de Witte, partner at MVRDV and the lead architect responsible for the project. Matrix 1 will house the new SustainaLab where work will focus on technologies and systems that reduce CO2 emissions, develop green business models, make agriculture more sustainable, and absorb the consequences of climate change.
In the design, all areas are kept flexible: office space can be converted into laboratory space with minor adjustments and vice versa. In addition, the common social area in the stairwell offers excellent opportunities for the people who work there to learn from each other. Because Matrix 1 will house multiple companies and laboratories, it creates a spirit of cross-fertilization and innovation. -- Frans de Witte, MVRDV partner.
Matrix 1
- Location: Science Park, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Year: 2019+
- Client: Matrix Innovation Center
- Size and Programme: 13,000 m2 Offices and Laboratories
- Architect: MVRDV
- Partner: Frans de Witte
- Design Team: Mick van Gemert, Roy Sieljes, Lesia Topolnyk, Fouad Addou, Aneta Rymsza, Ievgeniia Koval, Giuseppe Carosini, Andrea Manente, Damla Demir
- Visualisations: Antonio Luca Coco, Luca Piattelli, Cinzia Bussola
- Development & Project Management: Stone22
- Structural Engineering: IMD
- MEP: Deerns
- Cost Calculation: IGG
.jpg?1606909402 "MVRDV Breaks Ground on Matrix 1, a Sustainable Office and Laboratory Complex in Amsterdam")
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