Greenhouse by Joost (pdf)
The Holland Times, April 2011

Sustainability is the catch phrase of the moment, but for Joost Bakker, action speaks louder than words. His eco-friendly dining concept, Greenhouse by Joost is an international inspiration soon to hit Europe. Reporting from Australia, PRASHANTH SHANMUGAN uncovers the Dutchman’s passion for a better future.

If one man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure, then Joost Bakker, creator of the Greenhouse restaurant, is a very rich man. Greenhouse by Joost, is an ingenious, waste-free, eco-friendly, temporary pop-up restaurant built using entirely reusable and recycled materials.

“I have always had a love of other people’s junk,” says the 38-year-old Dutchman. “Old things are interesting, they had a previous life, but first and foremost they are cheap!”

Simply sustainable

Taking 21 days to build from start to finish, Greenhouse by Joost has been designed and constructed from broken down shipping containers and packing crates. All of its furniture, light fittings, glasses and menus are made from recycled and recyclable materials.

Greenhouse will stand for eight weeks along the Sydney harbour foreshore, soaking up the views of two iconic landmarks, the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The walls of the building are made of straw bales. Inside, the floor is made out of old conveyer belting from the mines; the chairs from disused irrigation pipes and leather off-cuts from a saddle maker. What’s more, there are no rubbish bins.

All waste is composted, water is collected on site, herbs and vegetables are grown on the roof, wild French strawberries are grown on the outside wall-gardens, and the generator runs on cooking oil from the fryers.

The food and beverage menu is also based on a philosophy of simplicity. All products are whole food at the commencement of each day and prepared to order, from the bread, pastries, pizza, yoghurt, butter and even the tonic water.

The menu, printed on wheat stubble, is based on what is produced locally and in season, encouraging diners to be more aware of the impact of food choices on the environment.

Arup, the global engineering, design and consulting firm, assisted Bakker with design insights and project management from fire and structural engineering, to an energy efficiency assessment.

“Arup helped to enable my creative vision. Where others have said, ‘No, it can’t be done,’ Arup have found solutions. That’s why it’s so rewarding to collaborate with a global company of such broad expertise,” says Bakker.

Setting an example

The aim of Greenhouse by Joost, is to demonstrate to visitors, builders, designers and restaurateurs that a wide range of sustainable best practices are possible in an urban environment.

“I hate preaching. I am a doer,” says Bakker. “I don’t like people telling me what to do. I think most people are the same. If I tell my kids what to do, they rarely listen. We are no different when we are adults. I rather send out a message by doing rather than just speaking about it.”

Greenhouse demonstrates that the technology needed to live more sustainably is readily available. “Sustainable development and organic food production are viable alternatives to the status quo, and in many ways, are simply a matter of choice,” says Bakker. “By choosing ethical, natural and easily recyclable materials we can live sustainably.”

Bakker got the inspiration for Greenhouse when he was designing his own house in the Yarra Valley, outside Melbourne.

“I wanted to build a place that was first and foremost easily recyclable. And there is a big difference between recyclable and easily recyclable” he says.

“A milk or yoghurt carton, though it says its recyclable, all those cartons get squashed and shipped to Indonesia where people peel the layers of plastic and aluminium by hand off the cardboard. To me that is not easily recyclable.”

Bakker prints the menus for Greenhouse on paper made from wheat stubble, for example. “People say, ‘Why don’t you use recycled paper?’,” says Bakker.“I say, ‘Why would I?’ This is paper made from wheat. Straw is an annual by-product from growing wheat. It is probably the world’s biggest waste product. More emissions are made from burning wheat stubble than all the power generation from the whole of California!”

Alkmaar to Australia

A true polymath, Bakker is a flower grower, designer, builder, environmental artist, and now restaurateur. His creative instincts here harnessed while growing up in the Netherlands as a child.

Coming from a long line of Alkmaar flower growers, Joost and his family migrated to Australia 30 years ago.

He credits his Dutch heritage and upbringing for instilling a culture of self-discovery.

“The Dutch are generally sceptical by nature,” he says. “Not everything is laid out for us, we need to find things out and be hungry for knowledge.”

At Greenhouse, this is the exact attitude Bakker has tapped into. “I saw that conveyor belts from the mines don’t get recycled because I saw them in the mines getting buried and becoming land fill. Now they are part of the floors here.”

But, Bakker’s impression of his home country is one less in line with the entrepreneurial freedom he experiences in Australia.

“The Dutch government has made it so difficult for people to become entrepreneurial. I would not be able to do this in Holland. I would need to study for three years before I could even serve food,” he says.

Bakker will bring his Greenhouse concept closer to the Netherlands soon, as he travels to a number of European cities to showcase Greenhouse at several design and furniture festivals. His first stop will be in London in September, followed by Berlin in June 2012 and then Milan. Arup’s original engineering designs and specifications from Sydney will be used throughout the tour and adapted for each site.

In a nod to the international appeal of Bakker’s sustainable approach, several other cities have invited Greenhouse.

But on this larger scale, it seems Bakker’s concept should be inspirational, proof that the sustainable resources and technology are there for any city’s taking.

As he puts it himself, “I am only one person!”