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A gigantic, completely circular high tech iconic building named ‘Dutch Mountains’, that’s what a group of initiators wants to be built in 2020, near the A2 highway. Inside: a Brainport Experience Center, a nano Museum and Gallery of Inventions, work and residence areas, a hotel, conference facilities, an internal park with pond, restaurants, cafes, a gym, sauna, nursery, a swimming pool and a supermarket. A parking for 1,500 vehicles is situated underneath the building, the roof is for recreational purposes.

Initially this plan was launched in 2008 already, but recently revived. The initiators want to build the Dutch Mountains right between the A2 Highway and industry parc De Run, in the municipality of Veldhoven. Last week, stakeholders at Brainport Development and the cities of Veldhoven and Eindhoven were informed about the status.

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Veldhoven Dutch Mountains

Lennart Graaff of development society BLOC Rotterdam is one of the initiators. On the platform “The Dutch Mountains” the other stakeholders are all mentioned: AAFM/Asito, Dell Technologies, Honeywell, SPIE Netherlands, SMV and Urban XChange. Arup, the TU/e, the Foundation Slimbouwen and Twice Eindhoven are mentioned as the knowledge partners.

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On the website Graaff explains: “The Dutch Mountains are to be the focal point of Eindhoven Brainport, The Dutch Mountains are home to the Brainport Experience Center, a regional and international showcase and platform for applications of all sorts of now, new & next technologies conceived at the Brainport. The Dutch Mountains also serves as a network name denoting an open collaboration between regional organisations and innovative multinationals, united through their common progressive bearings.”

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Sustainable

The Dutch Mountains with the partners want to set a new standard for sustainable development. “A building that gets better with time, is an absolute game changer. The Dutch Mountains will be super self-sufficient, with closed circuits in the field of energy, water, waste and materials.”

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TU/e professor prof. Dr. Ir. Jos Lichtenberg says that The Dutch Mountains has embraced the principles of ‘slimbouwen’, both because of efficiency and based on operational considerations. “The building is not positioned as an object but as a service. It’s an ultra-circular building that is capable of changing with the times and can become better through updates and upgrades, and perhaps a downgrade once every while. The Dutch Mountains is the embodiment of the service economy: light, heat, food, furniture, plants, walls and floor, in this system these are all services.”

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