OUR BUILDING - MELKMARKT 2-4
Originally it were two different houses. First lately, in the 20th century the left building has got a third flour and on top of both building the unique roof construction was added.
The houses Melkmarkt 2-4 originate from the late Middle Ages. Centuries later the houses were extended and heigthened.
THE WOOD FROM OUR STEAKPLANKS IS ALMOST 8 1/2 CENTRURIES OF AGE
The map of Zwolle to the right is attributed to Jacob van Deventer. It originates from the early 1600's.
But by that time, Zwolle already existed some centuries. Likewise, the building in which the Bluefinger Innovation Centre is located was there already. The beams of the lower floors of our building were cut down in the year 1381 !
When we moved into our building in 2021 and started to prepare it for the BIC, we decided that we needed an elevator to be able to use the whole building. When the elevator shaft was built we found the ancient bars and floorboards.
We decided to make snack platters and beef planks for the typical Swedish plank steaks.
Of course, we had become curious about the age of the bars and boards. So we hired a reputable wood-dating expert, Mr. Paul Borghaerts.
From his test it showed that the oak bars from the lower part of the building were cut in Twente-Westfalen in 1381. The dating of the wood could be decided with great certainty, since the annual rings were easily readable.
The pinewood bars higher up in the building were cut in the upper part of the building wete cut in 1659 in Southern Norway. The extraordinary of this fact was that it is only the third building with such an ancient supporting structure in the entire area.
In the BIC Moose Club you can eat your dinner from the floor...
The BIC Moose Club, a noticeable Scandinavian Streetfood restaurant in Zwolle City, is part of the Bluefinger Innovation Centre (BIC), the only innovation centre in the world with the focus the development of human innovation power.
The BIC is located in a remarkable historic building. Originally it were two houses, both with an ancient history.
We intend to use the whole building for BIC's activities. On street level we have founded the BIC Moose Club (BMC). This establishment also includes Ateljé Blåfinger, in which we exhibit a collection of Scandinavian Art Design Glass and Fine Arts. The Glass collection mainly includes pieces from the Swedish Glass District, like object from Kosta Boda, Orrefors, Målerås.
On the first floor you will find the office, with spaces for workshops, meetings and flex space. On the third floor we will build the spaces for startups.
The ancient wooden beams and floors, we reuse as snack platters and beef planks for the traditional Swedish plank steaks.
In our restaurant you may easily say that you can eat your dinner from the floor...
Circular economy and re-use
Of course, as an innovator, we endorse the principles of circular economy.
One of the most repugnant things for us, is dumping old solutions. We want to reuse previous resources as much as we can. This counts not only for beams and floorboards, but also for the reuse of our predecessor's, fashion store Steps, furniture.
The old fitting rooms were used to build our beautiful bar furniture. And the old cloth shelves became display cases that fit in perfectly in the restaurant interior.
Sense of history
Not only we wish to reuse material like beams, floorboards or furniture, We really respect the origin and former functionality of old solutions, more precise, the history of thinking behind. The foundation of our approach is that much of the historic 'tacit know-how' (former craftmanship) may be important enough for the success in transformations and metamorphose.
Besides having the sense for history is kind of fascinating!
The Bluefinger Innovation Centre fits quite well in the strategy of Zwolle, to manifest itself as an Innovative Hanseatic City.
Knowing that the Hanseatic League, the medieval collaboration of cities around the North Sea and the Baltic, in fact, was the forerunner of our contemporary EC, the Bluefinger Innovation Centre, based on the collaboration between the Netherlands and Sweden, fits perfectly in Zwolle's strategic agenda.
Both the Netherlands and Sweden are frontrunners in Innovation. The Netherlands', specialised in technology and Sweden, advanced in meeting societal needs for innovation (IKEA, Spotify, Klarna, iZettle, etc.). The applied methods and models we use In the Bluefinger Innovation Centre derive from both cultures.