The modular wood system developed by Circlewood – a collective of architects, engineers, builders, and researchers headed by OMA/David Gianotten – came about as a response to the City of Amsterdam’s Innovation Partnership School Buildings program of building multiple primary-level schools in the Dutch capital over the next ten years.

The system is flexible, allowing many configurations, so is highly adaptable over the lifecycles of schools, and its components can be easily dismantled for recycling. The prefabricated system consists of wood columns and panels connected recycled steel joints. All the parts are manufactured with high precision through a digitally controlled process that guarantees fast assembly. These elements are arranged in structural frameworks, so no partition walls are loadbearing. This makes it possible to create spaces of different sizes and serving different uses, including classrooms and an auditorium.

Circlewood’s members are Noordereng Groep, Oosterhoff (ABT, Adviesbureau Lüning, bbn adviseurs), Studio A Kwadraat, DWA, Hedgehog Company, Heko Spanten B.V., EtuConsult, Lomans, Ferross Staalbouw, and OMA.