Sustainability Report
Embodied carbon
Operational Emissions / Energy
The building uses a timber structure, hemp walls, and natural clay/lime finishes that help with vapour permeability and regulate temperature. The Sedum/wildflower roof provides additional thermal insulation, particularly during summer. The compact and relatively simple building form also reduces the amount of envelope requiring conditioning.
Service and maintenance emissions
The project uses natural, biobased materials thus reducing reliance on materials with more carbon-intensive production and maintenance requirements. The green roof contributes to the building's ecological performance and provides additional summer insulation. The wider Eemlandhoeve site is also managed according to ecological principles, with minimal intervention and natural maintenance practices. This supports the project's broader low-impact approach.
Afterlife
The primary challenge of the design was translating an organic, mushroom-like shape into a highly functional grid. By dividing the circular geometry into twelve 30-degree structural segments, we created a clear, open span supported by a central core and a primary glulam timber frame. This layout leaves the internal floor plan highly flexible. Non-bearing partition walls can be easily added, shifted, or removed. This ensures the building can seamlessly transition from its current use (exhibitions, education, and retreats) into completely different future programs, such as office spaces, a catering pavilion, or residential housing, without requiring structural modifications.
The afterlife of the building was also considered at a material level. By avoiding complex, toxic chemical composites and focusing on bio-based, mono-materiality: The glulam timber structure can be disassembled and repurposed, the hempcrete blocks and natural plasters are fully biodegradable and can eventually be returned to the soil or crushed and recycled into new lime-hemp mixtures. The building is designed to leave no permanent waste footprint behind when its lifecycle eventually ends.
Key products in low carbon design
