Mecanoo

Mecanoo was founded in 1984 by Francine Houben, Henk Döll, Roelf Steenhuis, Erick van Egeraat and Chris de Weijer.

The name Mecanoo is a combination of three different words: the British model construction kit Meccano, the neoplasticist magazine Mécano drawn up by Theo van Doesburg and the motto 'Ozoo', adopted by the original founding members for the Kruisplein competition entry which was located in the area of Rotterdam's former zoo.

After Oude Delft 203 had been occupied in the nineteenth century by several leading citizens, it was sold in 1886 to the Roman Catholic charity for the poor, later the St. Hippolytus Foundation.

Sustainability is an inherent aspect of their design approach, feeding into an ambition to create new identity in a world of globalization, resulting in inspiring and authentic places, socially relevant for people and communities.

Preoccupied not by a focus on form, but on process, consultation, context, urban scale and integrated sustainable design strategies, the practice creates culturally significant buildings with a human touch.

Project types include houses, schools, campuses, neighbourhoods, theatres, libraries, sky scrapers, parks, squares, highways, cities, hotels, museums and places of worship.