Transformation of old laboratory building into circular, modern lab environment
On the campus of the Radboudumc in Nijmegen, various laboratories will be intensively renovated in the coming years. Building M850 or the Research Tower is the first to start. The tower will be completely renovated in two phases, from façade to interior. Completely from the circular idea. Gispen provided an interior plan, supplied large numbers of revitalised furniture from the Circular Hub and revitalised old products from the hospital's storage. We also supplied new furniture made from recycled materials. The result: an open, fresh working environment for the researchers, including inviting meeting areas.
Client Rianne Zeitzen-Eeren, project leader Furnishing and Design at Radboudumc: 'In our pursuit of a compact campus, many laboratories will move internally in the coming years. Both the patient care and research laboratories. We want the housing of the labs to meet the latest health and safety requirements. We will also work flexibly and bundle laboratories around research topics. Attractive middle areas should lead to interaction between the various researchers.'
The transformation of the Research Tower is a wonderful task for several parties: Croonen architects provided the architectural design, Hospitality Group the interior concept. Gispen's interior architect Nelleke Lagerwerf translated this into an interior plan and all the separate furnishings for the lab and office spaces, meeting and concentration areas and central areas for meeting. Circularity was paramount.
Sabine Gorter, account manager at Gispen: 'Do you want to design the labs and other spaces as generically and circularly as possible? Then you want to get rid of specials and move towards more standard furniture – in the desired look, of course. Together with Radboudumc, we looked at: which furniture is already available in storage and only needs a revitalization? And what can we deliver from Gispen's Circular Hub? Radboudumc has a large internal storage and a good overview of it. For example, we found red leather Artifort chairs that are more than 20 years old. A design classic but almost perished. We cleaned these chairs and reupholstered them together with Havee Furniture. They can now be used as new again.'
From the Circular Hub, Gispen supplied no fewer than 169 revitalised workstations, 169 office chairs and 54 conference chairs. Sabine: 'We fitted old Gispen NOMI chairs with damaged shells with covering covers. Height-adjustable conference chairs have been extensively checked for the operation of the gas springs. We have upholstered a number of Gispen ZINN office chairs in imitation leather in connection with hygiene requirements. And in accordance with the health and safety requirements, twenty percent of the workplaces are now sit-stand.'
In the autumn of 2024, the ground floor up to and including the 3rd floor of the Research Tower will be completed. Given the large number of items – 450 in total – a Gispen project manager oversaw well-planned deliveries. At the end of 2025, it will be the turn of floors 5 to 8 for a metamorphosis. In 2026, the renovation of the entrance including a coffee bar will follow, where people can meet each other or work for a while.
By reusing existing products, no less than 93% or 64,757 kilograms of CO2 emissions have been saved compared to the purchase of new furniture from the market. This is equivalent to: driving 37.5591 kilometers with an average car or flying from Amsterdam to Paris 453 times.
In the relaxation and meeting areas of the various departments, new, sustainable furniture from Planq has also been used. Products based on natural materials, such as hemp and wheatgrass. Again due to hygiene requirements, there is greenery to be seen in these rooms, but deliberately artificial plants instead of real plants. Rianne: 'Everything now has the appearance of a fresh retro lab, in the style of the 60s/70s. That's a huge difference from how it was. Where the building used to be dark and stuffy with narrow corridors full of wooden shelves, the corridors are now more open and everything looks lighter, friendlier and more tidy. The offices look more spacious. And in the meeting rooms, I think the alternation between sitting high and low is very successful.'
Rianne: 'During the renovation, we converted an outpatient area into a lab to work in temporarily. It is nice that they now have their own place again. Everyone is positive about the new look: beautiful, open and light. As far as flexible working is concerned, employees still have to get used to it, but that's part of it. We looked at where we could meet certain wishes. For example, there was a lot of demand for extra seating in the middle areas. In consultation with Nelleke from Gispen, we have therefore added a number of them.'
Photography: Studio De Zwarte Kater
'Radboudumc's main question: how can we make the interior of our building fully circular? And more specifically: how do we tie everything together? We started by sourcing and combining furniture from different departments. The one two years old, the other five; looking out for colour differences, of course. Various pieces of furniture were mixed and matched for a unified look. What we lacked, we supplemented with furniture from our Circular Hub. In the end, we only had to buy a very limited number of furniture items and accessories. Some clocks and acoustic panels, for example. 95 per cent of what you see is from Radboudumc's own storage rooms and basements.'
'Circularity. Flexibility. Hygiene. These were important points of attention for us; Gispen thought along with us.'
'Sustainable or circular design sounds very nice, but it also means an intensive process. Especially here, where three streams of furniture came together: products from our own storage, refurbished furniture from Gispen's Circular Hub and new items. Do you have enough products? Does the look match? That is quite a puzzle and sometimes searching together. I appreciate that the Gispen team always made time to think along with us. From furniture to planning or costs.'
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