Drivers on the motorway from Hengelo to Enschede can’t miss the eye-catching Twence waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration plant at Boeldershoek. The stylised chimney and the green curves of the plant’s main building appeal to everyone’s imagination.

The building’s design looks thoroughly modern. Although it is easily noticeable, the WTE incineration plant also blends in with the landscape. “With its scaly form, the building gives the impression of movement. You can just imagine it crawling over the landscape,” says architect Maurice Nio about his design. Its armour-like, metallic-green aluminium plating reinforces that sense of movement. The building has nestled itself into its surroundings like a gigantic beetle.

And that was exactly what the architect had in mind. The dung beetle was his model for this design. Just as the beetle digests dung, the incineration plant feeds on the waste of Twente, converting it into energy. With that image in mind, you can see the waste reception hall as a mouth and the chimney, with its characteristic form, as a tail.

With his design, architect Nio has proved that an industrial building doesn’t need to be grey or dull and that it can fit perfectly within Twente’s characteristic hedgerow landscape. It is hardly surprising therefore that Nio received the Aluminium Award for his design in 1997. It is a building that Twente can be proud of.

Elhorst Vloedbelt

Though perhaps a bit less eye-catching, the industrial building on the Elhorst Vloedbelt site near Zenderen is nevertheless worth seeing. Architect Kas Oosterhuis designed a building with characteristically round and oval forms. The building has been in operation since 1995.

A spaceship is one of the first things that come to mind when you see this building. The next thing that strikes you is how well its avant-garde design blends in together with the rural surroundings. Despite its surprising appearance, the building is hardly visible in the landscape.

In his design, architect Oosterhuis managed to accommodate a variety of functions—including a storage facility, a water-purification plant, a weigh station and offices—within a single volume.

Another interesting detail is that while designing this building, Oosterhuis took into account that once the landfill at Elhorst Vloedbelt is completely filled, the structure could be given a different function. Eventually, the building could serve as a sports hall or cultural centre for Zenderen.

Kas Oosterhuis has won awards with this design: