In the former nursery garden tucked just below Leiden’s Central Station train tracks, the first tiny offices have been built! The foundations have been erected but the insides just need to be furbished.
The area is a testing ground for sustainability and these small offices hope to be a creative breeding ground where people come together and work on solutions for challenges in the urban area.
The materials are sourced locally
What’s more is that the materials for the tiny offices are sourced locally from around the city and region. For example, the insulation of the walls is made from old jeans and the walls are made from residual material from the 41 anniversary of the student society Minerva.
The pavilion will be built with the construction steel of the old Gorlaeus Laboratory of the University Lead.
Tiny offices in Leiden: Another step toward sustainable urbanisation
Sustainable developer councillor, Fleur Spijker, said “with such a long process it is important that during the development process there is lots of liveliness in the area so that people can see that something is going to happen. Moreover, we can share the experiences and lessons that we are acquiring here and immediately apply them to the rest of the city. It is certainly a good example of sustainable urbanisation!”
Bastiaan de Roo, director of PLNT, thinks “it will be a place where we can transition to a clean, fair, sustainable and accelerate toward a resilient economy. These offices will showcase the possibilities of building with reusable materials and become a testing ground for future innovations, including in the field of sustainable urbanisation.”
More of Leiden’s sustainability initiatives
Leiden is a city that fosters sustainable initiatives and is striving to be more clean and green. It could also be said that it is possibly the smartest city in the Netherlands? (okay, we’re bias).
Here are some of the latest initiatives that showcase Leiden’s sustainability:
1. PLNT
PLNT is a hub of innovation near the centre of Leiden and very close to the newly renovated Museum de Lakenhal. Just to give you an idea of what they’re doing at PLNT: at the entry of the building is an Aquaponics where fish and food grow together. The fish eat, grow and produce waste which bacteria convert into plant feed.
The roof garden is adorned with beautiful flowers and boasts stunning views over Leiden. In the far corner is a chicken coop which supply eggs to the PLNT cafe. Plans are in the works to make the roof retain rain water and for plants to generate electricity.
2. Singelpark
Singelpark is simply put, a park made up of the ‘ring’ of canals around the old city centre of Leiden. It can be likened to New York’s High Line and will lead you passed many iconic sights in the city (including PLNT and the wonderful Hortus Botanicus). Stretch those legs and get walking the 6km pathway!
Keen to get involved in the tiny office project?
Do you want to use a pavilion or office or organise a meeting at the field? Or perhaps you have materials that could be used in the building process? Then email co*****@pl**.nl or call 071-5272467
PS. This is not a sponsored post this, we just give em love 🙂
