Brummen Town Hall ­— existing architecture

Location Brummen, Netherlands Year 2013 Owner Brummen Municipality Architect RAU Architects Size 3,000 m2

The architects call it the first building in the world conceptualized as a raw materials depot. 55 The building is a temporal organization of construction materials, of which all details are known, including their destination in a second life.

Photo: The Brumen Town Hall is designed to stand a period of 20 years and with a design made for disassembly. As well, future plan for theconstruction materials and details for their second life have been considered.

The building is made as a light extension to an existing building. The supporting structure, facade and floors are made from timber in prefab components and use of concrete has been minimized. The prefab timber components can be easily dismantled and reused in a new building.

Image Š Petra Appelhof 55 turntoo.com

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The answer by RAU Architects and Turntoo to this proposal was a design made for disassembly, consistent use of reusable and renewable, high quality construction materials and a contract that guarantees circularity at the end of the intended user period.

Existing examples

The Brummen Town Hall has its starting point in the request for proposals for a temporary housing facility for a period of 20 years. Background for this request is the increased aggregation of Dutch municipalities into larger administrative units and the uncertainty if a town hall would be needed beyond the 20 year time horizon.