This report investigates the feasibility of using non-wood plant-fibre reinforced composites as structural profile materials for stick-built curtain wall façades in low- and mid-rise buildings. The work is motivated by the need to reduce embodied carbon in building envelopes and by the absence of systematic research on plant‑fibre composites in aluminium-like mullion and transom geometries. Existing studies predominantly address coupon-scale behaviour or flat panels and rarely integrate mechanical performance, manufacturability, regulatory compliance, and environmental impact at the profile level.

The study aims to determine to what extent plant‑fibre composites can be developed into manufacturable façade profiles that meet the mechanical, environmental, and regulatory requirements of aluminium curtain wall systems. To this end, a structured methodology is adopted, comprising literature review and material selection, definition of performance criteria, iterative experimental manufacturing in three phases, mechanical testing (tension, bending, fastener fixation, thermal expansion), life-cycle assessment, and a basic validation against European curtain wall performance criteria (EN 13830). Cross‑stitched flax fibre in a low‑viscosity epoxy matrix is ultimately selected, and filament wrapping combined with vacuum bagging and oven curing is developed to produce 50 × 100 × 4 mm rectangular hollow profiles.

Results show that the flax‑fibre/epoxy profiles achieve low-to-moderate tensile strengths, stiffness comparable to structural timber, exhibit progressive, damage‑tolerant failure, and attain an embodied carbon of about 12.2 kg CO2‑eq/m, exceeding a 70% reduction relative to conventional aluminium profiles with ≈ 51.1 kg CO2‑eq/m. The profiles satisfy key criteria for wind load resistance and self‑weight but remain limited by lower stiffness than aluminium, unresolved fire performance, uncertain long‑term hygrothermal durability, and thermoset‑driven end‑of‑life constraints.

The report concludes that flax‑fibre/epoxy curtain wall profiles constitute a technically feasible and environmentally promising proof of concept rather than a direct drop‑in replacement for aluminium. It contributes a complete, profile‑scale evaluation framework and a validated manufacturing route, thereby providing a basis for further research on bio‑based façade profiles in the context of low‑carbon and circular construction. ... Read more

This project elaborates on the transformation design for a professional handball academy in the former Centraal Beheer building in Apeldoorn by Herman Hertzberger. It aims to discover the possibilities and limitations of this icon of Dutch Structruralism, using three different Heritage approaches for transformation being 'preservation', 'intervention' and 'addition'. ... Read more

In the future, cities will face many challenges. We need to densify our cities while at the same time preserve qualities and identities on different scales. One of these identities is that of craftsmanship and the rich industrial history of Amsterdam.
The separation between living and working is outdated, especially for the growing part of the population that sees the benefit of working in their own business or as a freelancer. But the existing housing stock and urban planning do not reflect this need yet on a large scale. New types of housing that combine living and working should be developed to answer to this need. This approach is called live-work design, or zero-commute housing, and if done correctly it has many benefits for the people, as well as the city and the economy.

The Zeeburgerpad is a site that is centrally located on the east of the old Amsterdam Stronghold ring, but has been neglected since it’s rich industrial history of small scale crafts business became obsolete after the Second World War.
At the same time, craftsmanship is rapidly disappearing from our city-life and culture. Especially the production crafts that need large spaces and are therefore being pushed out to the perimeter of the city under the influence of rising prices of housing and workspaces. This is not only an issue for the people involved but also for the city as a whole, which needs diversity and small-scale businesses in order to remain healthy. Also, we need prevent the destruction of knowledge and cultural heritage that will irreversible if we don’t start integrating solutions for this in our urban fabric.

In this master thesis I developed a proposal that re-introduces the small crafts business to the Zeeburgerpad in the more traditional way of living where you work. This proposal includes the collective use of a large woodworking workshop and its big machinery, dwellings that can be used in a flexible way according to the needs of the type of business and household composition, and shops and services on the ground floor. This strategy of combining collective use, collaboration, learning and shopping can bring the value of craftsmanship in our cities to attention, be a boost to the re-valuation of craftsmanship in our culture, and give craftsmen the opportunity to stay in the city center of Amsterdam.
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The increase in number of festivals in The Netherlands and the importance of live performances for musicians leads to the question of designing new performance places for festivals. Today, most tents do not provide sufficient acoustic qualities for the performance of music and do not add to the experience of the visitor. This leads to the main research question: What aspects of a performance place contribute to the experience of the performance at a pop music festival? To answer this question, visitors, musicians and sound engineers have been interviewed. From these interviews a
collection of wishes has been drawn which have been compared and analysed to form a set of elements. The perfect festival performance place is a place with good atmosphere which can be created by the four elements: participation, sound quality, uniqueness and carefreeness. A design was made for Lowlands Festival. The wooden construction adapts these four elements and thus creates a new innovative concept for a temporary performance place for (pop)music performances at festivals.
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Waste pollution is becoming an ever increased challenge and this is even more so the case in Indonesia. Landfills are notoriously overfilled which, together with little spatial opportunity for appropriate waste storage and separation on a local scale, as well as a lack of knowledge leads to a majority of waste being disposed of on road sides, rivers or burned openly.

The project ‘crafting the disused’ focuses on waste flows and a proposal to support recycling by means of spatial facilities, encouraging the recycling of waste into new materials for the built environment on a decentralised scale. Using only local materials such as bamboo and the locally produced waste as construction material, the design is organised around the community with a self-built approach and as a means to facilitate future densification and enabling the local community to organise their own waste management. Split into a waste storage and recycling facility and a reprocessing facility, local inhabitants are encouraged to consider their approach to waste and furthermore to use this in a creative way, while also generating income for the neighbourhood by means of an integrated waste bank.

Key of the project is to clear the current waste pollution and diminish the stigma of waste as something ‘unwanted’ but instead as a new material that can be shaped to desire. ... Read more