The Natural Pavilion gains a third life at the Evoluon in Eindhoven

The circular The Natural Pavilion, built in 2022 as an exhibition pavilion for the Floriade Expo in Almere, is moving to Eindhoven. The pavilion will have a new place in the park behind the Evoluon, where it will become the home of De Ontdekfabriek.

The pavilion is almost entirely biobased, circular and nature-inclusive. A defining feature is its fully demountable structure: thanks to dry connections, the building can be completely dismantled and rebuilt in a different configuration. This makes the pavilion ideally suited to a second, third or further life in a new location, as is now the case.

Following the Floriade, the pavilion has served for several years as the headquarters of the Flevo Campus in Almere, where a sustainable neighbourhood is being developed on the former Floriade site. It is now set to begin a third life, this time on the site where the ‘Smartest House in the Netherlands’ once stood, among the trees behind the Evoluon.

The new user is De Ontdekfabriek, an organisation focused on talent development for children and young people. Due to renovations, the foundation must leave its current location in the Apparatenfabriek at Strijp-S by the end of this year. With the pavilion as its new base, the organisation refers to Ontdekfabriek 2.0: a place aligned with the ambitions of Brainport Eindhoven, a place where the inventors of tomorrow can build their own dreams.

In integrating the pavilion into the park, the son of Evoluon architect Leo de Bever is contributing to the positioning of the building within the landscape. DP6 is currently working on adapting the pavilion for its new user. In addition to DP6, Foolen & Reijs Vastgoed, DWA, Movares, DGMR, LOLA Landscape, The Dutch Wave, Hedgehog and Hupperts Architectural Engineering are involved in the project. The ambition is for the building to be in use by the end of 2026. A timeframe comparable to the original construction for the Floriade, which was completed in just three months.

photo The Natural Pavilion: Scagliola Brakkee
photo Evuluon: Thea van den Heuvel, beeldbank RCE (CC BY-SA 3.0)