BioPartner 5 on the Leiden Bio Science Park is the first Paris Proof building in the Netherlands. Popma ter Steege Architecten (PTSA) designed the business center with offices, laboratories and meeting facilities as a meeting place for the campus. High and low tech come together. High quality research facilities with energy neutral building fittings go hand-in-hand with large-scale recycling. Steel construction, natural-stone and rubble from a demolished neighbouring laboratory were reused and give the building instant patina. In order to create aesthetic, circular surroundings, PTSA closely involved various designers in the process, including Studio RENS and Catalogtree. BioPartner 5 shows how construction materials can already be given a second life in high quality applications. From the completely reused steel supporting structure to the internal walls, from the floor finishing to the toilets.

We are seeing the high-level application of recycling more often, but here it is more than successful. The layered building marks the future of progressive solutions for circular construction practices. It demonstrates solutions for a world in which we must do more, with less. Amazing how materials have consistently been used to their maximum potential. Through collectively building a business case, and without keeping the role of each party separate, a sustainability ambition has arisen that clearly transcends authorship. This is commissioning with an iterative, strongly substantiated and scalable approach. An approach that challenges the relatively traditional construction world and inspires imitation.