Amstelveen’s Rembrandthof underwent a striking renovation and extension, giving the shopping centre a more urban, city-like character in step with the Municipality of Amstelveen’s high ambitions for its modern city centre.
Client Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, together with Heyligers Architects and Kollaard Architecten, chose a premium brick to deliver that elevated, city-street feel.
Contractors Barten Groep and Retail Bouw Nederland brought the design to life using WasteBasedBricks and WasteBasedSlips in the striking Nougat and Radish colours, combining bricks and brick slips in unusual, eye-catching bonds.
Image credits: Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
westfield.com
In this large-scale redevelopment, every face of the brick has been put to use: stretchers, headers, and even the sole of the brick appear as visible surfaces at several points across the facade.
In the bulkhead and the piers, the sliced inner face of the WasteBasedSlips has also been deliberately exposed, in both punched and sliced finishes, adding texture and depth to the elevations.
This isn’t just a design choice; it’s a sustainability statement. The WasteBasedBricks are made from a minimum of 60% construction and demolition waste, upcycling roughly 91 kilograms of waste per square metre and comfortably offsetting the CO₂ emitted during production. For the WasteBasedSlips, this comes to the upcycling of about 22 kilograms of waste per square metre.
For the Rembrandthof extension and renovation alone, this adds up to a total of 29,880 kilograms of construction waste given a new life as building material rather than ending up in landfill.
This project reflects a wider ambition for the area: alongside the physical extension of ten metres along the Rembrandtweg, the Municipality of Amstelveen is investing in greener, more welcoming public space, while as much of the existing structure as possible, including roofs, facades, flooring and glass, is being retained or reused.
It’s a fitting context for a facade built from reclaimed materials: proof that sustainable and high-end can be the same thing.
A bold red and brown tone with hints of purple. Radish is what you want to create a contemporary brick facade.
A soft yellow tone with a hint of warm pink. Nougat is the 21st-century answer to London Stock Bricks.
Sign up for our monthly newsletter and follow us in our mission to contribute to a more circular world by changing our approach to sustainable building.
