Metabolic Lab

Metabolic Lab is a living laboratory and education facility located at the heart of De Ceuvel in Amsterdam North. As a retrofitted houseboat in a closed-loop community, it serves as a unique location for education and innovation. It consists of an interactive exhibit, a multi-functional meeting space and an urban biorefinery. The interactive exhibit inside Metabolic Lab guides visitors through a deeper look at water, energy, food, sanitation, and the built environment. It aims to inspire social entrepreneurship and innovation through interactive information and people of all ages learn about sustainability and how they can make an impact in their own communities. A 45m2 multi-functional space in our retrofitted houseboat is designed for hosting meetings, workshops or events. It is available for rental or collaboration on interesting programming related to our education and research topics. Our urban biorefinery entails a tech-boat and a rooftop greenhouse. It houses a biorefinery that processes urine and food waste to recover nutrients for on-site food production. The greenhouse investigates new horticulture systems and their viability for commercial urban agriculture. We work with various partners to showcase new technologies and experiment their applicability in a closed-loop system. The space is currently still undergoing renovation and will be available for rental as of March 2015, with the official opening of the facility in June 2015.