In the hotel of the future, sustainability is the standard. Hotel concept QO makes this standard visible, or actually, invisible: and it’s precisely the intention. Sustainable luxury is reflected in the choice of materials, the restaurant menu and installations. This hotel does not place the responsibility with the guest, but takes it.
A patchwork of sliding panels and large windows characterizes the façade of the hotel. Above the glass revolving door of the 'Dutch eatery' that is located on the ground floor, you can read the name Persijn – a very conscious choice. The name refers to the thirteenth-century Amsterdam landowner Jan Persijn van Velsen. Connection is most important to the QO: between hotel visitors and local residents, between building and district and between neighbourhood and city.
Forming a sustainable vision; everybody needs to belong
"An universal need of people is to belong to a community, whether it's in a shed in Guatemala or in a penthouse in Manhattan," says Xander Bueno de Mesquita. With his innovative vision, the project started about ten years ago. When he returned to the Netherlands after a long-term trip, he decided that he wanted to translate this universal need to belong into a sustainable hotel concept. "I wanted to develop the Tesla among the hotels."
A sustainability vision was formed to determine an appropriate sustainability label. Bueno de Mesquita did not want to start his project with the certification, to prevent just finishing a sustainability checklist. LEED Platinum proved to be the best fit: in order to achieve this status, sustainability had to be fully integrated.
Do not feed waste!
A tight schedule reduced the transport movements from, to and at the construction site. In addition, prefabrication resulted in less waste during construction. Ready-made work packages were delivered and assembled according to a just-in-time principle, 95 percent of the waste that still originated was separated on site. Waste recycling and reduction were also included in the contracts with subcontractors, with the motto: "do not feed waste".
In the choice of materials, reuse and distance have also been taken into account. For example, the façade of the former Amsterdam Shell tower was ground into granules and processed into the concrete construction of the QO. At least fifty percent of all material used during construction originates from locations within a radius of 800 kilometres.
Waste is one of the cycles that the hotel focuses on. The others are water, energy and food. Shower water once again receives value as flushing water for the toilet and vegetables, herbs and fish are grown in a closed system in the greenhouse. The sustainable vision is also reflected in the hotel menu. It’s 'Dutch cuisine', which emphasizes the use of local products.
Seeking the connection
The hotel actively seeks the connection with the city and the surrounding area. According to Bueno de Mesquita, this is necessary for a sustainable building: "It's about co-creation with unexpected parties, not only with architects, but also with the neighbourhood." The greenhouse on the roof, for example, can serve as an educational location for the local school.
The location of the sustainable hotel is no accident. It fits in with the urban plan of the city of Amsterdam to redevelop the Amstelkwartier district in a sustainable way. A sustainable hotel therefore fits in seamlessly. Nevertheless, sustainability and a hotel environment do not automatically match, says general manager Inge van Weert: "In general, a hotel is a very wasteful environment."
The management of QO deviates from that standard with its zero waste ambition. To achieve this, the QO makes agreements with partners and suppliers. For example, farmers supply fruit and vegetables in crates that the QO provided. In the rooms the care products are in bags, boxes or large refill containers. With each partner, agreements have been made about what happens when products no longer last. "In about a year or two plant pots can be made from the uniforms."
Sustainability should be standard
Sustainability is the standard in QO, but not yet in the Netherlands. The hotel demonstrates: sustainability can become the standard with a sustainable vision, perseverance and co-creation with unexpected parties. Without the guest having to notice anything, sustainability comes back everywhere: from the construction drawing to the board.
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