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Description
De Ceuvel is an award-winning, sustainable planned workplace for creative and social enterprises on
a former shipyard on the Johan van Hasselt kanaal off the river IJ in Amsterdam North. In 2012, the land
was secured for a 10-year lease from the Municipality of Amsterdam after a group of architects won
a tender to turn the site into a regenerative urban oasis.The former industrial plot is home to a thriving
community of entrepreneurs and artists, where all involved have lent a hand to build Amsterdam’s first
circular office park. The plot hosts creative workspaces, a cultural venue, a sustainable café, spaces to
rent, and a floating bed & breakfast.
On the former shipyard we have realized one of the most unique urban experiments in Europe. Old
houseboats have been placed on heavily polluted soil, the workspaces have been fitted with clean
technologies and it has all been connected by a winding jetty. Around the houseboats
phyto-remediating plants work to clean the soil. De Ceuvel is not only a “forbidden garden” which will
leave behind cleaner soil, but also a playground for sustainable technologies. Through experimentation,
we are as energy self-sufficient as possible and process our own waste in new, innovative ways.
The Ceuvel is cooperatively built and managed by a non-profit association of tenants. They herefore
work with an elected and voluntary board. The board of Association de Ceuvel manages the site, the
contacts with the various tenants and the external contacts with the municipality, partners and others.
Major achievements
De Ceuvel is a cultural urban hub on the cutting edge of technology, sustainability and art. The founders
want to be the vanguard and a symbol of the social transition to a contemporary circular lifestyle. With
their cultural programme they try to inspire and involve like-minded individuals into a growing
movement of innovation and transition to a more sustainable city, country and world. The transition to
a circular economy and society is not only a technical transition, it is also a cultural transition: people
have to learn new modes of thought and how to apply new techniques and technologies. The mission
of the cultural programme of De Ceuvel is to plant seeds in the hearts and minds of our visitors that will
grow into more involvement with sustainability, innovation and the role of culture and art in that
movement. Concretely, this vision results into sustainable workshops and lectures, but also arthouse
films, music evenings and art exhibitions that are not necessarily related to sustainability. Besides
a cultural centre for the green innovation community, they also want to be a place where citizens from
the neighborhood can come together and enjoy art and culture in a circular urban hub.
Topic: Rural design, Transformation of this polluted zone into a sustainable residential area,
Energy and nutrients flows, Aquaponic agriculture, Circular economy, Cultural Urban hub.