Our studio space in A11 Hembrug

Our studio is part of the transformation of A11, a listed industrial workshop on the Hembrug site in Zaandam. For this project, we designed the shell renovation for eight live-work units. To preserve the building’s original robustness, we developed a façade typology that introduces variation within a strict architectural grid. We set new Accoya frames behind the original openings, so the historic façade remains legible and old and new enter into a careful dialogue. You can find the project here.

Material storytelling shapes the interior. We wanted to show how discarded materials can create a workspace that feels both beautiful and reflective. The result is an office that combines functional quality with a quiet awareness of life cycles, memory and reuse. We worked with materials that are usually classified as waste, exploring how transformation could enrich both the making process and the final space.

to make something more beautiful than it could ever have been without reclaimed materials

Kirsten Hannema in the Volkskrant

Three materials define the interior:

Terrazzo floor from discarded grave monuments

The project began with a newspaper article about gravestones from cleared cemeteries being crushed and used in road construction. The idea felt both absurd and disrespectful. How could people discard such culturally charged objects so casually? Further research confirmed the practice: once grave leases expire, workers rebury the remains and often treat the stones as waste.

After a few phone calls, we sourced 25 tonnes of discarded gravestones free of charge. We turned them into a terrazzo floor, and the process gradually grew into a wider communal effort. Working with this material brought new rituals and reflections on life and death into the studio, linking ecological responsibility to cultural awareness.

CLT walls from an Audi expo pavilion

In Munich, 300 m² of 120 mm-thick cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels formed the roof of an Audi pavilion. After the two-week event, A&E Expo offered the panels for reuse. We milled them into tongue-and-groove blocks, that assemble like LEGO. We then used their structural and visual qualities in cabinets, frames and doors. The elements remain freestanding, so we can disassemble and reuse them in the future.

Wall panels from surplus wool

The Netherlands produces more than 1.6 million kilograms of sheep’s wool each year. Only a small part finds a use; the rest is often incinerated. The Hollands Wol Collectief transforms this surplus into felt. We used it for acoustic wall panels, giving new value to a material otherwise go to waste.

This project shows how creative reuse can turn discarded materials into elements with both functional and emotional value. The result is a distinctive working interior where every surface carries a story of craft, cycles and design.