The book is new, the cardboard cassette has signs of use.

Preface:
It was warm that summer. But out on the terrace, the waters of the River Waaltje lapped at our feet and kept things cool. From the airport at Zestienhoven, a soft, white stripe had been drawn across the clear, Delft-blue sky. The kind of day that invites you - not entirely without obligation - to philosophize about what fascinates you and occupies your mind.
Social developments, the state of the earth and its inhabitants, innovation, sailing, art, health, virtual reality and - inevitably - Bolidt. We had the wind in our sails, we concluded. But we were being realistic too. The Corona pandemic made us realize even more that, if we wanted to maintain our lead, 'something' had to happen.
Meanwhile, the water in the Waaltje flowed effortlessly towards the North Sea. Maybe that's what reminded me of what the artist Jean Tinguely always used to say, "Anything, except standing still". I thought about his Tinguely machine: press the button and a hammer hits the piano, a pendulum swings with joy and something breaks that needs repairing. For Tinguely, it was all about anything, except standing still. It was preferable to wear out and be replaced, or even to die if need be.
That conversation by the murmuring riverside set something in motion. Something got into my head. And like my father always said: whatever you have in your head can be created.
But not without some concerted effort - my father never mentioned that part. Ultimately, it would be a process that took six full years. To get a good feel for the impact of buildings and experiences on people, we set off on an architectural journey. Off to austere Scandinavia and to excessive Las Vegas we went. But also to unassuming Weil am Rhein, a village in the middle of nowhere that 900,000 people visit every year to see the fire station designed by Zaha Hadid, the dome by Buckminster Fuller and the museum by Frank Gehry.
At the same time, thoughts arose about making more impact within our organization. Working in an environment each and every day in which value creation for our customers, performance, innovation and the personal development of our people are central. Making the human side at least as important as the process side, at all costs. I realized that Netflix, Semco and Google are still leading the way. For now. A Lean & Learn philosophy slowly took shape, to boost the human approach and self-management. In addition to the design of the Bolidt Innovation Center, the sustainable organization was increasingly taking shape as well.
To turn those thoughts in my head into reality, I 'forced' family, friends and colleagues to think about the role Bolidt could play in the next 500 years. People, Planet, Profit have been chosen as the key words to be our guiding stars when thinking across future generations. On countless Saturday mornings, my apple barn became the place for free thinkers of various backgrounds and personalities to get together and spar, wrestle, surprise and challenge. A wealth of images on the walls: from surrealistic images to United Nations manifestos about sustainable development goals. From fantasies to more concrete dream images; from charging stations in horizontal surfaces and nighttime football fields to flying cars. Car parks where people could dance at night and practice sports during the weekend. Saturday after Saturday, the goal gained in brilliance. The Bolidt Innovation Center as the embodiment of our DNA was fed a steady flow of positive associations for the next 500 years of Bolidt.
When we actually launched the Bolidt Innovation Center for real, we still didn't have a tightly-defined plan - only a mindset. Crucial to the design process were social commitment, trust and friendship. A key aspect in that mind-set was water - the river as a connection between people, places and ideas. It was no coincidence that it had all started beside the River Waaltje, remember. As expected, we've radically adapted the design several times. The common thread in the end result is chemistry; human, social and chemical - anything that involves chemistry.

This book is the response to a dream that became reality. The Bolidt Innovation Center as an open machine to shape the next 500 years of a sustainable Bolidt. It's a place where the world can see how we work, from 'lab to delivery', and where we collaborate with clients and designers to bring to life high-impact projects that go beyond what we ourselves have ever imagined.

"Everything you have in your head can be created."

My father was right.

R. W. Bol