One man's trash is another man's treasure – that's how you can describe Ander Hout's business idea. Ander Hout started with four friends wanting to minimize the waste stream when demolishing buildings by reusing the material instead.

Some of the best ideas can strike when you least expect it, and the idea for Ander Hout was born around a birthday cake. The four friends Bart, Jelle, Luke and John had met up to celebrate Jelle's birthday in the mid of 2020. That's when John and Bart got the idea of starting a venture with wood. They had long pondered a way to minimise the waste stream of Jelle's business Molenaar Service, which works with demolition, drilling and construction. ​​​​​​​

"We didn't know exactly what we were going to do, but the key idea was recycling the material. Jelle and Luke were immediately triggered by the idea, and shortly after, all four of us scheduled a meeting where all the puzzle pieces fell together."

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The concept of Ander Hout is simple. Instead of throwing all the materials when demolishing a building into the waste container, Jelle's new mission is to inspect which parts of the old building can be saved. Then, the materials are neatly removed from the property and delivered to Ander Hout.

After setting the idea for Ander Hout, the search for a location for a workshop began. They quickly found a beautiful space available at the Molenaar Service premises.

"This space was just an open canopy, 15 metres wide by 15 metres deep. There was no frontage, no running water and no workshop. So we thought this was a great opportunity to design the building to our specifications and wishes."

The whole space was built with materials from demolitions. Old window frames with stained glass from a Belgian abbey were used as part of the front façade, old windows and doors from a hospital in Rotterdam were used as a wall between the workshop and hall, and old trusses were used for the mezzanine floor. On 1 April 2022, the building was officially inaugurated, and Ander Hout was launched.

Today Ander Hout manufactures high-quality products and designs creations on behalf of their clients. The raw materials they use are 'harvested' from demolition work and can be anything from scrap wood to materials from historic buildings. The old material is converted into interior objects and home accessories.

"Every product that we create is unique. There is no standard way of thinking, and work is done from the stock that is available. You really need to get to know your client, understanding what the product will be used for and where it will be placed. After that, the creative process can begin."

Ander Hout is a commercial company that uses profit as a means rather than an end goal. The team includes people who can be labelled as professionals but also people starting their path in this business. The latter group of employees offers Ander Hout a contract.

"The goal is that with the help of a fixed income, extra attention and guidance from us, they should eventually be given a place in the labour market. The larger the turnover and profit, the larger the latter group can become."

Ander Hout saves a lot of material that would otherwise be thrown away, a proven concept that you can create beautiful things by reusing and changing the definition of what 'new' is.