In September 2017, the Circl pavilion opened its doors as a circular meeting centre on Gustav Mahlerplein, in the heart of Zuidas. In May 2024, the process of dismantling Circl will be started in order to make way for a new and sustainable office building with a range of amenities, Mahler 1.
Notable features of the Circl pavilion were that it was made mainly of wood and its large glass frontage, enhancing its open and spacious design. The interior boasted more than 2000 sq. m. of meeting rooms and work spaces. The roof garden also served as a public meeting place, reached by means of wide stairs on the side of the pavilion. The various plants, grass species, and soil that covered the roof added to the building’s biodiversity credentials.
Circular design
Circl was the first practical example of sustainable and circular design in Zuidas. New and highly promising innovations, the value of which had yet to be proved, were applied and tested in Circl’s ‘living lab’. Part of the building’s façade, for example, had been adapted – in a project that also involved Delft University of Technology – for the purpose of applying new materials with a view to exploring even more sustainable application options. Circl was designed in such a way that it could be dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere, while the materials used were recyclable.
Dismantling Circl
The Victory Group purchased the ABN-AMRO complex in 2021 with the aim of modernising it in the years to come. Circl, which formed part of the complex, was not suitable for expanding, which is why it was to be dismantled circularly. Icon Real Estate, a division of Victory Group, started the process in May 2024, in collaboration with Lcp-circulair, who specialise in circular construction, from development, design, and construction, to dismantling, storage, redesign, and reassembly. The materials used for Circl will be stored and prepared for reuse.
Examples of circular features in Circl
- The material from which the floors in Circl were made previously had other uses. The wooden floors were made from rejected wooden window frames and the tiled floors were made from ground recycled concrete integrated with phase-changing materials (PCM) to regulate the indoor climate.
- The wooden load-bearing structure was made from fully dismountable locally sourced larch.
- Discarded jeans from bank employees and partners were incorporated into the ceilings as insulation material.
- The lifts in Circl were leased, rather than purchased, and were due to be returned to the manufacturer after ten years.
- All the materials, parts, and components used to create the building were recorded in the form of a ‘digital twin’ – the building’s passport, referred to as LLMNT.
- Circl had a direct-current supply throughout the building.
Awards and nominations
- First prize: 2020 ULI Europe Awards for Excellence
- Nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award 2019
- Nominated for the Dutch Construction Award (Nederlandse Bouwprijs) 2019
- Nominated for BNA Building of the Year 2018
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