The People's Pavilion

Project: People’s Pavilion, 2017
Location: Ketelhuisplein, Eindhoven
Client: Dutch Design Foundation, Eindhoven
Design: bureau SLA & OvertredersW
Designers: Peter van Assche, Hester van Dijk, Reinder Bakker
Structural Engineer: Arup
Urban Mining Advice: New Horizon
Main Builders: Ham & Sybesma

From 21 to 29 October 2017 the Dutch Design Week (DDW)—one of the most important design events in Northern Europe—took place in Eindhoven, Netherlands. In 2017 DDW and Design City Eindhoven launched the first edition of the World Design Event (WDE), which provides a platform for future makers from all over the world. At the heart of the Dutch Design Week is its People’s Pavilion, which had been designed by bureau SLA & Overtreders W.

The designers from bureau SLA and Overtreders W created a "100% circular buildings" with a radical new approach: all of the materials needed to make the 250-m2-building were borrowed — not only materials from traditional suppliers and producers, but also from Eindhoven residents themselves. To be clear, 100% of the materials were borrowed: concrete and wooden beams, lighting, facade elements, glass roof, recycled plastic cladding, even the Pavilion’s glass roof, all are returned completely unharmed — with one special exception — to the owners following the DDW. The exception? The striking colored tiles that make up the Pavilion’s upper facade, made from plastic household waste materials collected by Eindhoven residents, which were distributed among those very residents at the end of DDW.

100% borrowed means a construction site without screws, glue, drills or saws. This, in turn, leads to a new design language: the People’s Pavilion reveals a new future for sustainable building: a powerful design with new collaborations and intelligent construction methods.