Naturally, IAA Architecten endorses BNA manifesto 'We're going circular'
The Sustainable Development Goals (2016-2030) of the United Nations, in combination with the government-wide programme the Netherlands Circular in 2050 and the 'Transition Agenda Circular Construction Economy' published in early 2018, mean that the construction sector is facing enormous challenges. We as architects play a crucial role in this, since the most important (circular) decisions are taken in the design and initiation phase.
IAA Architecten is aware, like no other, of the fact that the linear economy has to be turned into a circular economy. We are working on this on a daily basis and are proud of what results of this we can show in already realised projects:
industrial heritage which has received a new, second future, such as the ROC Twente in Hengelo, Tetem in Enschede, the Boekelose Stoomblekerij in Boekelo, the Twente Centrum in Almelo and the Faralda Crane Hotel in Amsterdam
buildings in which as many circular products are used as possible, such as in educational buildings Saxion Edith Stein in Enschede and Saxion Apeldoorn in Apeldoorn
buildings designed according to the Cradle to Cradle ® principle, such as our German office buildings PULSE BERLIN and ICON DORTMUND. For these projects, we work closely together with the founders of this principle, William McDonough and Michael Braungart. The German organisation for sustainable building DGNB has granted these buildings a pre-Gold certificate.
These are all projects in which we increasingly apply the five design principles of the manifesto:
- the starting point for circular architecture is a circular business model
- nature is a source of inspiration and a textbook example of circularity
- over its lifetime, a structure is adaptable and flexible
- a structure including its components is easy to (dis)assemble and construct
- building materials are of high quality, non-toxic and easily reusable
Occupying ourselves with this reversal in our thinking about raw materials, energy, air and water is an exciting adventure that we like to experience together with our network partners and clients. We cordially invite you to make this journey with us.