Demolition of Circl pavilion in full swing

For Joost Puttenstein, this is not the first time that he has taken a building apart in a professional capacity. Puttenstein is a project manager at lcp circulair, the company that has been commissioned by the owner Icon Real Estate to dismantle the Circl pavilion. For several years, he has been specialising in the circular dismantling of buildings – in a way that enables them to be reconstructed in exactly the same way somewhere else. He compares it to using Lego. ‘Many contractors claim that it’s not possible, but a little extra effort and creativity can get you far.’ He then quickly adds: ‘Of course, it’s not quite the same as Lego. What’s on the construction drawings often differs from what you actually see in practice after a few years of use. In the case of the Circl pavilion, the aim is to reuse around 70% of the building.’

Puttenstein takes us to the very distinctive façade of the Circl pavilion, made up of large aluminium sections. One part of this has already been dismantled and the glass removed from another part. ‘There are always unexpected surprises. During construction in 2017, some window frames were already sawn into and require extra care to enable them to be used again. For this reason, the original supplier of these window frames is now involved again in the dismantling.’

Some of the materials are no longer compliant with the Building Decree. ‘External walls, for example, which no longer provides efficient insulation’, says Puttenstein. ‘But they can be used again as interior walls. There are always puzzles to be solved.’ Another example are the solar panels that were on top of the Circl pavilion roof. They are around seven years old and therefore less powerful than new panels. But a new purpose has still been found for them: the solar panels are now being reused in a newbuild project in Gelderland. Puttenstein: ‘You’ll now need more of them to reach the power required, but it’s great that they will get a second life and nothing needs to be thrown away.’

Currently, a suitable new site for the Circl pavilion is still being sought. Until then, all of the dismantled components will go into storage with lcp circulair. Every component – from window frame to floorboard or screw – is given a coded sticker during dismantling. This enables all the materials not only to be properly stored, but also to be easily found again. ‘You need to remember that the storage facility is the size of several football pitches’, says Puttenstein. ‘Carefully dismantling everything is one thing, but you then need to ensure that it’s placed in the storage facility in a specific order and properly sorted. Using stickers to categorise everything precisely creates an excellent track & trace system.’

At first glance, it looks as if not so very much as happened since the start of dismantling in May 2024 – the entire structure of the Circl pavilion is still standing. But appearances can be deceptive, says Puttenstein. ‘Dismantling is construction in reverse order’, he explains. ‘Normally, you start by building upwards, and then you build from outside inwards. Dismantling begins from the inside. We start by taking everything out of it, and that’s obviously less visible from outside.’ But as soon as the structure has been dismantled, things move fast, says Puttenstein. If everything runs according to schedule, the Circl pavilion will have been completely dismantled by the end of 2024.