A group called The Circlewood consortium, a collective of architects, engineers, builders and researchers, has designed a modular building concept that will act as the basis for up to 30 schools in Amsterdam. The three-storey plug-and play system, called the HoutKern Bouwmethode, consists of standardised wooden columns and cross-laminated floors connected by recycled steel joints.

The base’s load-bearing walls enclose areas that can be used as classrooms, auditoriums and gardens. The walls themselves are made from carbon-absorbing materials and can be used to support indoor climbing and vertical farming. The base is flexible and allows an architect to work with the schoolboard to determine the final plans.

Components are digitally controlled to decrease assembly times and are built on site with the help of an electric crane. 

Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), which is acting as the collective’s creative director, says this method reduces nitrogen emissions by 80% compared with standard construction.