A consortium, comprising Expomobilia, V8 Architects, Kossmann.dejong and Witteveen+Bos, has won the contract to design the Netherlands country pavilion for the mega Expo 2020 gala event in Dubai.

The 35th World Expo will take place in Dubai between October 20, 2020 and April 10, 2021. It is the first such event to be held in the Middle East. Under the overarching theme of 'Connecting minds, creating the future', 170 countries will present ideas, innovations and technologies before an estimated 20 to 25 million visitors.

The 3,727-sq-m Dutch pavilion has been designed as a closed-loop climate system in which private and business visitors will enjoy an intense sensorial experience.

The Netherlands will be represented at Dubai Expo 2020 by a standout pavilion that is not a building in the traditional sense, but a temporary climate system built using locally sourced materials.

The pavilion is the embodiment of the Netherlands' chosen theme of 'uniting water, energy, food' and demonstrates the connection this country is so good at making between sustainable energy, water management, agriculture and circularity, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency while unveiling the winning design.

Inside the pavilion, visitors will be treated to a sensorially rich experience of Dutch know-how and skills in the field of innovative water, energy and food harvesting, they stated.

The circular or closed-loop climate concept generates a world in which visitors are able to immerse themselves in silence, warmth, coolness, light, darkness, agriculture and water, and in which they can discover natural ways of controlling climate. In Dubai's dry desert climate, the Netherlands will create a temporary biotope, it added.

Explaining the concept, the Dutch Dubai consortium which together commands a wealth of experience and a strong network, said the pavilion will be built using a construction method and materialization that makes the closed-loop circularity concept intelligible.

To minimize transport, the entire pavilion will be constructed with locally sourced construction materials, it stated.

All materials will be either given back or recycled after the expo closes, a strategy that will keep the pavilion's ecological footprint as small as possible.

Building on the Netherlands' international reputation for excellence in civil engineering, which is especially strong in the Gulf region, the pavilion is a temporary exercise in pragmatism. In contrast to the civil engineering character of the exterior, the interior adds a scintillating layer of light, tactility and refinement, inspired by the typical rhythm of the Dutch landscape and geometric patterns and elements from the Arabic culture, the consortium said.

The pavilion is in the Sustainability district and forms the culmination of the Netherlands' multi-year campaign in the Gulf region, focusing on Dutch expertise in the domain of water-energy-food.

In addition to its presentation of 'the Netherlands', the pavilion is also a meeting point for the business community, educational and research institutions, governments and social organizations.

The pavilion brings together all the necessary know-how and technology in the fields of pavilion construction, architecture, interactive visitor experiences, closed-loop technology and sustainable building.

A great many innovative Dutch companies were involved in the development of the concept, including Aardlab and Sign.-TradeArabia News Service