Up Your Cycle
As part of the Periscope 2023 study trip to Utrecht, we visited Het Hof Van Cartesius, an inspiring circular economy workspace in the Werkspoorkwartier neighbourhood. Founder Charlotte Ernst gave us a tour of the unique site, which emerged after an Open Call to transform a derelict slice of land into an affordable workspace for creatives.
The construction relies on a material-driven design. Members craft their workspace from sited waste or repurposed materials (from recovered CLT to train windows and plastic railway timetables), made possible through establishing long term relationships with demolition contractors. Green space is designed, managed, and enjoyed collectively by all members – the sense of cooperation and DIY nature extends to all aspects of the community and is the building block of its success.
Charlotte left us with a call to arms to take the principles established by Het Hof Van Cartesius and scale up for the existing and future communities we design for. It is now our task to take their prototyped regenerative model and find ways to blend it's Co-op, pioneer energy with the needs of wider communities. Doing so will help us better create opportunities for collaborative stewardship, something which must be a joint venture between designers, communities, local authorities and site developers.
One the many rain gardens on site allowing rainwater and runoff to drain directly into the soil
A workspace from the first phase, where the original Hof members were instrumental in sourcing materials and building the spaces
The National Dutch Railway Authority was invited to see the innovative way their plastic timetables were being reused. Confronted with the indestructibility and wastefulness, they have since committed to producing more sustainable paper-based timetables
Ad-hoc bamboo rainwater collectors feed the pond, which turns into a floodable landscape in heavy rainfall
A room with a view, the courtyard from phase two where residents are encouraged to garden and congregate
Train windows get a new lease of life on the facade of the material reuse workshop
