The first 100% Cradle to Cradle office in the Netherlands is a fact. On Friday the 11th of November 2011 (Dutch Sustainability Day) the opening of the new BSH head office on Park 20|20 in Hoofddorp took place. Fornature took care of a major part of the interior of this completely sustainable building.

Architect William McDonough – together with Michael Braungart creator of the Cradle to Cradle principle – designed the new Dutch BSH head office which meets the Cradle to Cradle standards. This means all of the materials can be recycled without loss of quality and next to that the reuse of all interior products is guaranteed by Fornature. Expectations are that the building will soon receive the BREEAM rating good.

The BSH office is the first completion at the large-scaled area development called Park 20|20. The business park will be the first ‘full service Cradle to Cradle business park’ in the Netherlands. The office is energy-efficient, for example the roof which is made out of glass provides lots of daylight inside. And because of the atrium in the center of the building the light will circulate trough the different floors. The building contains 4000 m2 office space and 4000 m2 showroom in which customers can see products of Bosch, Siemens, Gaggenau, Neff and Solitaire. The roof is covered with solar panels and in the hall the biggest green wall in the Netherlands – which is quite an attraction – is situated.

The office spaces are designed according to ‘Het Nieuwe Werken’. This is a new way of working which implies flexible workspaces, quiet areas and conference rooms for informal meetings. Not only the building itself is designed according to the C2C standards, all interior features are also as sustainable as possible. Fornature is responsible for a major part of the interior: loose furniture, special furniture, carpet and system walls. These products will be reused or recycled; this is something Fornature guarantees. With this unique agreement Fornature makes sure an interior is truly sustainable.

The current situation is that not even one per cent of all office furniture is being recycled. Fornature’s aspiration is to change this. That’s why they created a database in which all sustainable furniture available on the Dutch market is collected. To make sure these sustainable products will get recycled, Fornature guarantees that these products will be returned to its producers through unique contracts.

The reuse of products gets more important every year because of an increasing demand of raw materials by new economies. Stimulating the reuse, upcycling and recycling of sustainable interior products means less raw material use, an enormous reduction of waste and decreasing the environmental pollution.

BSH is one of the frontrunners when it comes to their choice for a sustainable interior. They participate in promoting a cyclical system of material reuse and recycling of products. At Park 20|20 the Cradle to Cradle inspired Pavilions will open soon. Fornature will present itself in the Technical Pavilion.