anchor
Image: MVRDV / © Daria Scagliola
The construction of MVRDV’s Matrix ONE project, a laboratory and office building in the heart of Amsterdam’s science park, has been completed.
The six-story, 140,000 square foot structure is the largest of seven buildings that now make up the Matrix Innovation Center, a site for scientists and entrepreneurs to develop sustainable solutions to current and future problems.
Image: MVRDV / © Daria Scagliola
As the Centre’s main hub, Matrix ONE aims to serve as an example for other buildings in the Amsterdam Science Park. The building was designed to be demountable, in which connections such as screws and bolts allow elements to be detached and reused. In addition, its floors are made of precast concrete slabs without fixed connections.
Image: MVRDV / © Daria Scagliola
The Madaster platform was used to provide a material passport system that registers all materials and products incorporated into the building. It provides an overview of carbon dioxide storage for over 120,000 individual components. According to MVRDV, more than 90% of building materials can be reused.
Image: MVRDV / © Daria Scagliola
Matrix ONE serves as the central social hub of the campus. This is punctuated by a large “social staircase” located next to the main entrance at the south corner of the building. It is conceptualized as a continuation of the zigzag paths found throughout campus.
Image: MVRDV / © Daria Scagliola
The staircase features grandstand-style seating for presentations, tables for informal meetings, and coffee stations. The interior design of the space is highlighted by lush green walls and soft felt finishes that reduce sound reverberation. The building also houses a 100-seat auditorium.
Image: MVRDV / © Daria Scagliola
The roof includes over 10,750 square feet of solar panels that generate some of the building’s energy. Internet-connected lighting and heating appliances help reduce energy consumption. The building also promotes healthier behaviors by encouraging people to use the stairs instead of the elevators, which are located deeper in the building.
Image: MVRDV / © Daria Scagliola
There is also bicycle parking accessible through a secondary entrance at the rear of the building. Combined, these sustainability and health strategies contribute to Matrix ONE’s BREEAM-Excellent certification.
Image: MVRDV / © Daria Scagliola
“Matrix ONE gave us a great opportunity to test a number of carbon reduction strategies that we have been studying for a long time at MVRDV,” said MVRDV Partner Frans de Witte. “The building is state-of-the-art now, but it also recognizes that the state of the art is constantly changing. We have therefore made the interior spaces and the technical installations serving them as flexible as possible; the offices can easily be modified to become laboratories and vice versa, and laboratories can be easily upgraded with new systems to adapt to changing standards.In the decades to come, when the building will no longer be state of the art, it will will become a source of harvesting materials for other buildings. In the future, we hope this is how all buildings will work – and we’re excited to see Matrix ONE become a standard bearer in our own office.”
Watch an illustration of Matrix ONE’s circular approach in the video below.
Video courtesy of MVRDV/YouTube.
Similar articles on Archinect that you might be interested in…
