Studio Komma’s Lego-Like Building from Recycled Materials Wins Competition in Netherlands
Dutch architecture firm Studio Komma and Concept developers De Mannen Van Schuim have won first prize in a competition issued by the city of Hague, in Netherlands, to signify the transformation of the Binckhorst region from industrial to living and working area. Their proposed temporary building ZIP2516 is designed to be completely demountable and reuses materials from an old parking garage.
Courtesy of Studio Komma / The Men of Foam
The 3000-meter-square building is designed to host social and commercial entrepreneurship along with a public square. The flagship store of social entrepreneur Happy Tosti will occupy the ground floor, while a public square and an urban playground will take up space on the first floor. The upper floors will house office and start-up space, and the roof terrace will be provided with a gin bar and a garden.
ZIP251 will be a 10-year temporary building as per requested by the competition organizers, and that is why the designers came up with the Lego-like concept for the building which allows it to be completely dismantled, transferred, and re-assembled on another location. Recycled materials from an old garage will be used as removable constructing parts for 95% of the building.
Courtesy of Studio Komma / The Men of Foam
Though temporary, the building was designed with flexibility and possibility of functional changes in mind. “Smart panels”, which can be linked together, circulate the façade of the building and hold its installation, to allow for free space and flexible plans. The designers are, also, proposing to neutralize the energy demand of the building by installing solar cells on its walls and roofs. The building is expected to be completed in 2018.
