Villa Welpeloo in Enschede, the Netherlands, was designed by

Architects Jan Jongert and Jeroen Bergsma. It doesn’t look like a recycled building. The architects reversed the typical order of the design process (first home, then materials) and began scouting the local area for items to recycle. “Reused materials account for 60% of the structure” says Jongert. “And that goes up to as much as 90% when it comes to the interior.”

They created a ‘Harvest Map’ for an inventory of possible materials to use within a 9 mile radius. They even used Google Earth seeking abandoned buildings for telltale signs of defunct industry and possible scrap materials.

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Park Gate is quite an architectural masterpiece. It has 6 curving towers covered with canopies of solar panels to keep the heat out, let in light and cool the building. It takes advantage of the cool breezes from the ocean. It has hanging gardens that have drought tolerant plants (watered with a gray water mist system); as well as plants that are salt water tolerant. The gardens are in abundance. There are thermal salt water reflecting pools that act as a heat sink during the day, and release the heat at night. All of these measures are thought to reduce temperatures by 10-15 degrees.