MVRDV has shared details on their efforts to revitalize the firm’s former Dutch Expo 2000 Pavilion design into a new, mixed-use development in Hannover, Germany.

According to the firm, the project will transform the aging structure into a new anchor of a three-building development called iLive EXPO Campus after a successful 90 million Euro ($97.8 million USD) fundraising campaign led by iLive and Die Wohnkompanie Nord.

The structure had sat abandoned since its completion 23 years ago, often attracting illegal visits from architects eager for a peek at its three-level interior that has since become overgrown with the local flora while retaining its original structural integrity. 

“The theme of the Dutch entry for Expo 2000 was ‘Holland Creates Space,’ and we did exactly that in 2000 by stacking typical Dutch landscapes up to 40 meters high, so that a large wild garden could be created around the pavilion,” MVRDV founding partner Jacob van Rijs remembered. 

“Now that approach is working to our advantage — because the space around the pavilion is still available to be developed, we can build a real campus around it, while breathing new life into the building,” he continued. “Adapting an open structure, partly supported by tree trunks, to become a well-functioning mixed-use building is no easy task. It is great that both the municipality and developers have continued to believe in this idiosyncratic mosaic of a project for so long. I am sure that students, lecturers, and everyone who works there will soon enjoy the view of this pavilion that has had so much international impact; the atmosphere of the Expo is deeply embedded in the new campus.”

Two stepped-terrace buildings will surround the remade future pavilion in a wreath-like pattern, with the largest housing 386 new student apartments. The pavilion itself will become host to a number of startups and other small businesses, with flexible co-working spaces and a restaurant included. Overall, the development will include a sports facility, parking structure, EV charging station, and a library. The project was also recently rewarded a gold pre-certificate for sustainable urban districts from the German Sustainable Building Council.

MVRDV said finally: “The campus shows that architecture can be an engine of change and that even ‘impossible’ structures can be transformed in a sustainable way into user-friendly buildings — in this case, even forming the beginning of an entirely new neighborhood.”

The entire campus is expected to be ready by 2025.