The insect hotel: a plywood structure with open shelving and a planted roof of moss and sedum

De Nieuwe Meent

Project
De Nieuwe Meent
Client
Woningcoöperatie De Nieuwe Meent
Architect
Time to Access, Roel van der Zeeuw
Location
Amsterdam, NL
Materials
Multiplex wood, biodiverse and nature materials, mixed media
Insect Coöperatie
1:33

Maquettes aim to represent architectural projects, with high quality and accuracy, while capturing the creativity and principles these designs are conceptualized with. We were invited by Woon Coöperatie de Nieuwe Meent to rethink and transform this model at the end of its lifecycle. With the project now built, the maquette had lost its purpose; rather than discard it, we regenerated it to meet the community's current needs. Combining our knowledge of model making, architecture, and community engagement, we repurposed the wooden sculpture into an insect hotel.

  • Shelves filled with drilled logs, pine cones and moss 1/4
  • The object on the pavement, planted trays running along its base 2/4
  • Detail of the planted roof: lichen, moss and sedum growing over the edge of the plywood structure 3/4
  • The front panel with terracotta pots and moss set between the plywood ribs 4/4

During the development of De Nieuwe Meent, the architecture team created a physical model to communicate the building’s volumetrics and serve as a focal point in a participatory process with the future resident community. Throughout the project and construction phases, the model was used and exhibited in various venues across the country, representing not only the design itself, but also the concept of wooncoöperaties and the communities behind them.

Bunting strung over the moss roof, with small scale figures among the planting

The involvement of the residents was essential. Not only does it continue the maquette’s original intention, but it also activates it once again as a collective object. Through a hands-on workshop, we worked with the residents to fill the structure with a variety of natural materials, textures, and patterns to create habitats for new forms of life within the miniature building. De Nieuwe Meent project won the Amsterdamse Architectuurprijs (AAP) 2026, and the insect hotel will be in use and on display at the centre courtyard of the building it represents.

This project is a part of Basic research, where we explore new sustainable practices for the modelmaking craft. The repurpose and adaptation of existing physical models is a key component of this work.

  • The insect hotel standing in the courtyard of De Nieuwe Meent, a brick housing block in Amsterdam 1/5
  • A blurred view through one of the round openings, bunting beyond 2/5
  • The planted roof: lichen, grasses and sedum growing over the compartments 3/5
  • The insect hotel against the brick facade, with the drawing still on the plywood 4/5
  • The full front with every compartment filled with reed, cones and bark 5/5
The insect hotel in the ARCAM gallery, with the Amsterdam skyline through the window
  • A wooden insect hotel with a planted green roof, filled with perforated blocks, bricks and clay pots 1/5
  • Hands planting moss and sedum in the green roof of an insect hotel during the workshop 2/5
  • Two residents filling the compartments during the hands-on workshop 3/5
  • An insect hotel placed in a brick courtyard, with a workbench in the foreground 4/5
  • A resident placing natural material in the lower shelves 5/5
A hand lifts the pre-renovation building off the site base of the 1:200 model