Biopartner 5, Oegstgeest

Hightech pioneer with circular patina
Biopartner 5 is a circular pioneer. Reclaimed materials are radically utilized for this new incubator buidling. Steel construction and debris from a nearby demolished laboratory provide the new build an instant patina. Planting and transparancy help to anchor the building in its bare surroundings.

Incubator for sustainable development
BioPartner Center Leiden is the successful incubator organization of the Leiden Bio Science Park. The organization is closely related to the growth of the park. During the development of their fifth building, the emphasis shifted from growth of the organization to a sustainable development of the campus.

Due to this ambition the design proces of Biopartner 5 turned into a study of the meaning of circular building. An exploration of alternative ways of building that fit a progressive building industry. Towards a more careful consumption of our global resources.
This led to a range of design solutions to reduce material use, to re-use reclaimed materials, and to make building elements and –materials re-usable in future.

The most striking examples are the main supporting construction of 'donor steel' that was inventively disassembled for the nearby Gorlaeus Laboratory. The new build gains character of the robust steel and purseus the history of the well know laboratory.
To our knowledge 'donor steel' has not been applied in this scale. Thus the project offers motivation for large scale re-use of our stock of current applied building materials.

Additionally debris from the same building forms the basis of a low-tech green facade that firmly grounds the building in its surrounding and is a foundation for divers native vegetation. Planting surrounds the building to form a small ecosystem and is watered with collected rainwater.

Biopartner is a layered building in which high- and low-tech come together to generate a dynamic working environment. Transparency is utilized to establish contact at street level on all sides of the building. Layout of program and landscape provide a quality of space and atmosphere at a campus in the making.