In the center of the Dutch city of Delft, Building D(emountable) is modern, sustainable and, unsurprisingly given its name, fully demountable. Located on the site of a historic, monumental building complex, the site is owned by cepezed, an agency with expertise in the development and design of the realization of buildings. The innovative company acquired the building in 2012 and began transforming existing monumental buildings into a creative cluster of creative offices and housing. A new addition to the existing cluster is Building D(emountable).
This new building has the same footprint as an existing building that was no longer fit for purpose and was demolished. Measuring 11 by 21.5 meters, D(emountable) accommodates four floors of about 200 square meters of lettable floor on each level. In addition to being demountable and mountable, the structure is also super lightweight with materials kept to a minimum. The building also has no gas connection and is instead equipped with heat recovery. Though the ground floor is made of concrete, the other building components are modular and dry mounted.
Given that the Netherlands has set a goal of rendering all construction activities fully circular by 2050, sustainable construction is key. The structural floors and roof are made of lightweight wooden Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) elements that are also prefabricated. These have a compact height and the installations are integrated into them. The ribs of the LVL elements remain fully visible and are part of the building’s aesthetics. The screed is biobased and consists of gravel-like granules in a cardboard honeycomb structure with gypsum fiberboards on top. The entire screed is dry and easily removable again. The PVC finishing floor is made of partly recycled PVC. The building has no window frames: the double-layer insulating glass is mounted directly on the steel structure with welded screw profiles.
Interestingly, the entire building functions as one large fire compartment. As a result, little material was required for fire-resistant measures; only the stairwell has a fire-resistant partition. On each floor, air conditioners that also take care of heating are integrated into the ceiling. In addition, the building is equipped with a heat exchanger.
