Visiting Holie Hub, home to the Netherlands' most circular kitchen

A good match between 'The Houtman' and 'The Circular Rule Aunt'

Never thought we would visit the 'Abbey of Berne', in Heeswijk-Dinter (Br), for the column 'Visiting By'. We had an appointment with the 'Circular Regulatory Aunt' Anne-Marie Rakhorst and Rik Ruigrok, 'The Houtman' of the Netherlands. The two say that the Holie Hub at the Abbey - a rapidly developing event venue - has 'the most circular kitchen in the country' built in. Well, curiosity was piqued. On to Heeswijk-Dinter.

Anne-Marie Rakhorst is founder of Holie Hub, the meeting place and inspiring work environment for sustainable boosters in North Brabant. "This is where passionate like-minded people come together for cooperation, entitlement or, on the contrary, opposition. We help visitors with inspiration, new insights and perspectives where the common thread is: belief in a sustainable future. Thus, numerous events are organized here with visitors from all over the Netherlands."

Practice what you preach

"But then, of course, the credo: 'Practice what you preach' applies," Anne-Marie continues. "If we are passionately promoting the pursuit of a circular economy here, then we have to set a good example ourselves; reuse where we can. We were already using some beautiful tables from Herso at the Holie Hub. So I asked Rik Ruigrok of Herso Circular Woodworkers to build this kitchen. He's always looking for wood because you can always do something with it. He was the right person for us - for example, in furnishing the kitchen - because he works exclusively with used wood."

Small but fine

"No, it's not a big kitchen but it's an efficient kitchen," says Rik. "The kitchen here facilitates the four meeting rooms or the three events that could take place here at the same time. All the equipment is at the highest level of energy labeling, but just as importantly, this kitchen was built from wood previously used elsewhere."

Kitchen as showroom

Anne-Marie explains that visitors and users of the event venue, always get a comprehensive tour. "And then we naturally show this kitchen," she says. "At that point, our kitchen is actually a small showroom. We then tell people that this kitchen was built for 100% from previously used wood. In doing so, we also naturally make ourselves more credible. We do what we say."

Pure nature

The two explain that setting up a circular kitchen was not actually "the goal. "It's the means to show that you can get a lot done if you want to be sustainable," Rik says. "In this kitchen, everything is pure nature. I sometimes say: this is a kitchen with boobs. Here it's just right."

Perfect spot

"So everyone can learn something about circularity here," the pair concludes. "But besides that, it's also just a beautiful location. It is the perfect place where we can communicate what we want to achieve. Even better: here we can show that we are actually much more ambitious than the government. They want to achieve a fully circular economy by 2050. We think that moment can be reached earlier. That is what we radiate from this place. But we are also doing it ourselves so very practically."-

About Rik Ruigrok

Herso - Rik's company - stands for endless (re)use of wood, i.e., unique products with a low footprint. Based on the idea that wood can never be waste, Herso succeeds in making circular floors, furniture and interiors. Rik is fine with being called an idealist, but above all he sees himself as a realist. "For me, circular business is a necessity. An economy that runs entirely on reusable raw materials creates a world that we can indeed leave to our children and grandchildren."