William McDonough + Partners (WM+P) and their Cradle to Cradle-inspired design for Park 20|20 were recognized in National Geographic’s March 2020 Cover Story: “Is a World Without Trash Possible?” National Geographic reporter Rob Kunzig interviewed WM+P founder William McDonough and Delta Development CEO Coert Zachariasse about the office park, which WM+P designed to be a model of innovative Circular Economy thinking.
From the article:
“Outside Amsterdam I visited a 23-acre office park that McDonough’s firm designed and MBDC helped select materials for, called Park 20/20. When the developer, Coert Zachariasse, made his own pilgrimage to Charlottesville a decade ago, he was hoping the guru would reveal exactly how to build a cradle-to-cradle office park. But McDonough demurred. ‘He said, [We don’t know yet, but we’re going to figure it out,]’ Zachariasse recalled. The developer felt disappointed at first—then liberated, empowered.
Park 20|20 is about three-quarters built, and it’s already a green and pleasant office park. The facades are varied and imaginative, the spaces sunlit and inviting, the energy all renewable, the wastewater treated and recycled on-site. One of its coolest features is less apparent: Instead of the usual concrete-slab floors, the buildings have thinner, hollow, steel-beamed ones. They allow seven stories to fit in the usual height of six, using 30 percent less material overall.”
WM+P is the design architect of each of the park’s workplaces, all of which were conceived to embody and exemplify Cradle to Cradle design strategies. The buildings are designed for future disassembly, serving as material banks that will allow products to be harvested in the future to provide endless benefits in a Safe then Circular Economy. Park 20|20 currently contains the world’s largest collection of Cradle to Cradle Certified™ products, ensuring that occupants are surrounded by products and materials optimized for human and environmental health.
The collaboration between WM+P and Delta was featured in the article, stating, “a world without waste sounds impossible. But the vision of a circular economy—where we use resources sparingly and recycle materials endlessly—is inspiring businesses and environmentalists alike.”
Read more about Park 20|20 here.
