Development

Sustainable growth

We are a family company with a history going back more than seventy years. This has made us only too aware of the need for sustainable growth. Our roofs are already covered with 60,000 m² of solar panels, and very soon more than 100,000 m² will be added. With LED lighting, energy-efficient systems, improved insulation and other techniques, we continue to reduce energy consumption. New buildings are of course without gas connections, and we also aim to achieve at least BREEAM certification at ‘Excellent’ level. BREEAM-NL New Construction and Renovation is the leading quality mark in the Netherlands for assessing new developments and renovations as regards their sustainability performance. BREEAM-NL New Construction and Renovation is for offices, retail, schools, industrial buildings, housing, meeting and accommodation functions and data centres. With BREEAM-NL New Construction and Renovation, buildings are assessed according to nine different sustainability aspects: management, health, energy, transport, water, materials, waste, land use and ecology and pollution. Since its introduction in 2010, more than one hundred certificates have been issued for completed new construction projects or large-scale renovations. More and more developers, investors and property owners as well as end users acknowledge the advantages of a BREEAM-NL certificate. We also follow developments closely in the area of circular construction.

Against proliferation of box designs

We too love the Dutch countryside, and understand the dismay at the proliferation of big boxy warehouses in the landscape. The enormous logistics complexes appearing everywhere in the landscape are increasingly a topic of debate. Even since 2004, we have focused on re-using brownfield sites to reduce the impact on the environment. Examples of these are Distriport Benelux and Distriport Waalhaven. Within five years, more than 200,000 m² of our buildings will be constructed on brownfield sites. This makes us one of the largest redevelopers of logistics property in the Netherlands.

Housing

In Berlin, we have completed two complex inner-city housing projects. The first project, Brunnenstrasse 194, consists of a shop, 36 owner-occupied homes and an underground car park with 54 parking spaces. The Prenzlauer Allee 44 project consists of 44 rented homes, a supermarket on the ground floor, and beneath it a car park with 47 parking spaces.