Tijdelijke rechtbank Amsterdam

temporary court & multitenant and educational building

The temporary courthouse in Amsterdam was largely developed by cepezedprojects within the dpcp consortium. cepezed and cepezedinterieur designed the 5,400 m² new building as a kit of parts. In 2022, after five sustainable years of service, the building was dismantled in accordance with the requirements. A new owner has been found: it will be rebuilt in Enschede, where it will serve as a university building.

client(s)
Dutch Central Government Real Estate Agency

location
Amsterdam (1st location) , Enschede (2nd location)

user(s)
courthouse Amsterdam

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High requirements for a temporary building

While new permanent accommodation is being built on the same plot, jurisdiction is continuing in the temporary new building.

The demands on this are high. For example, the interim character of the building must not detract from its distinguished appearance. Also, the conditions for aspects such as equipment, complex logistics, acoustics, comfort and safety are equal to those of permanent construction.

Avoiding waste

From the perspective of social responsibility, client the Government Buildings Agency set great store on preventing waste. An important selection criterion was therefore the prevention of waste and the maximization of the residual value of the building.

Completely reusable

On every scale, we searched for possibilities to reduce, reuse and recycle materials. Together with engineering firm IMd, we developed for instance a special attachment system for the hollow-core slab floors, which simplifies detaching and reusing the floor slabs as much as possible.

Reuse does not just concern the components, it even applies to the entire building: after the first period of use, it can be reassembled in its entirety at a different location, if desired also in a different configuration.

The building will be disassembled in the same way at Kennispark Twente in Enschede. Almost all the elements are moving with it, except for the cell blocks. There is no need for them in the new function of a business centre.

first nut
A detachable building celebrates other milestones. These include the 'unscrewing of the first nut', or the start of the temporary court's dismantling, on 9 November 2021. Louise Attema of the Government Buildings Agency considers the project more than successful: 'We got what we wanted. And actually even more. We got a high-quality building, at an acceptable price. And circularity in a way that was very special at the time and is actually still special."

video van Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO)

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The dismantling of the Temporary Court Amsterdam officially started with the loosening of the first nut on 9 November 2021. This was followed by a debate about circular and remountable building in practice, which was broadcasted live from the Temporary Court.

In this broadcast, Ronald Schleurholts (architect, cepezed-partner) and Menno Rubbens (cepezedprojects / dpcp) explain the entire project in a short video.

Francesco Veenstra (government architect) was a guest. Jim Teunizen (Alba Concepts), Jan Willem van de Groep (entrepreneur and inspirator), Arend van de Beek (Lagemaat) and Menno Rubbens (cepezedprojects / dpcp) entered into a live debate, led by Jort Kelder.