Sponsored by :
Between 2015 and 2016 pioneer architect Césare Peeren designed and realized part of the new interiors for VIISI’s headquarter, an ambitious and innovative company based in Amsterdam. At the end of 2016, the project won the Desko Circular Design Award powered by Desko.
A worn-out bowling alley floor, deadstock Trespa tabletops, vintage lamps, and ‘heraklith’ acoustic system ceiling panels were redesigned to give a sustainable yet classy looking ‘living room for academics’. The space is used both as a lunchtime canteen and evening seminar room.
This portfolio shows a broad insight during the different production steps: where the materials came from and how they have been treated and upcycled.
Divided in #10 main photo series, this reportage highlights the Superuse design practice with an accent on the craftsmanship of these fantastic makers: an homage to the master of crafts, their dedication, their ability to transform something that was discarded into innovative and beautiful designs.
#INDEX OF THE VISUAL CHAPTERS
#1 SPACE
#2 HARVEST ZUIDOOST
#3 HARVEST WAREHOUSE
#4 HARVEST ZAANDAM & TEXTURE TEST
#5 SELECTED MATERIALS
#6 TABLES
#7 FLOOR DESIGN & PROTOTYPING
#8 BUILDING PROCESS
#9 UPCYCLING LAMPS
#10 FINAL RESULTS
#1 SPACE
Above image slider: Viisi’s headquarter in Amsterdam and the spaces before the intervention.
#2 HARVEST ZUIDOOST
Built at the South East suburbia of Amsterdam at the beginning of the eighties, this building was demolished only a few weeks after the Superuse team performed the Material Harvest.
Nowadays, buildings are considered more as material storage, and therefore the best practice is that of providing the building with a material passport; increasing the value, or keeping the value of materials, products and components over time.
Above image slider: one of the locations where the Superuse team has been harvesting the materials.
The number of resources that such a complex can deliver would be actually enough to re-construct a small village off the grid.
Viisi’s new canteen project used a tiny part of the old sealing insulation, but it can be seen as a statement of how we could give a new life by smart deconstruction processes and re-designing.
← Cèsare Peeren removing samples that will be later implemented as sound insulation for the Viisi’s canteen sealing.
#3 HARVEST WAREHOUSE
Above image slider: a warehouse in the countryside outside Amsterdam, where the bowling halley floor was found thanks to Daan Spanjers.
#4 HARVEST ZAANDAM & TEXTURE TEST
Above image slider: the dead stock of Trespa found in Zaandam, the north of Amsterdam. According to previous projects’ s experience, the material can be sandblasted with stencils to refresh the esthetics with patterns that also provide the anti-slip function.
#5 SELECTED MATERIALS
After harvesting the materials around Amsterdam, the selection has been displayed at the Superused House in Rotterdam.
Meanwhile, the design process has been executed according to the materials that were found; further selected and applied considering assignment’s need and fine-tuning the choices together with the client.
Samples were tested in terms of assembly possibilities. Options regarding treatments, such colors and textures have been also tested and evaluated before making the final choices.
Above image slider: the materials collected for the project.
#6 TABLES
The bowling alley floor has been up-cycled to become VIISI’s canteen tables, one of the most prominent features.
Metal frames reinforce the joints and provide a solid structure for smaller side-tables, which will be created with the same material as the floor due to the abundance of the found dead stock.
← Left: Cèsare Peeren visiting Roel de Boer, the builder of the first prototype for main tables, in his workshop at the Northern district of Amsterdam.
Above image slider: at Superuse Lab the tables being made by Pieter De jong
#7 FLOOR DESIGN & PROTOTYPING
Above image slider: some sketches of the new canteen; the pattern that will be applied by sandblasting the Trespa plates has been created by repeating the company’s name.
Above image slider: testing different kinds of coatings to treat the new floor.
Below image slider: the prototype was installed at the Circular Design Award exhibition.
Above single image: the prototype was installed at the Circular Design Award exhibition.
#8 BUILDING PROCESS
Above image slider: everything comes finally together at VIISI’s canteen with Ken Wright and his team and Pieter de Jong / Superuse Lab.
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Below: Details of the materials ready to be installed.
Above: selected horizontal photo from the building process.
#9 UPCYCLING LAMPS
Found at the old Heineken first brewery and attached office building, the lamps have been saved before renovation works.
Probably from the sixties, they have been refurbished and provided with modern cabling and low energy consumption bulbs.
The lamps have been installed across the whole floor of VIISI’s headquarter.
Above image slider: Césare Peeren refurbishing the lamps.
Below image slider: the Superuse Lab team installing the lamps.
#10 FINAL RESULTS
Sponsored by :
Above: the founders of Viisi BV. From left to right: Frank Tukker, Hendrik Schakel, Hergen Dutrieux, Tom van der Lubbe to whom I am very grateful for sponsoring this documentation process and for all I have learned by working with and for them. Denis Guzzo
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