A construction materials recycling and logistics hub at the Vergotedok in the heart of Brussels has been completed. The Holcim Acknowledgment prizewinner from Belgium in 2014 by TETRA architecten was praised for applying sustainability principles to the construction of infrastructure – in a warehouse complex for the trade of building materials in the port of Brussels. The construction of the complex marks the start of implementing Brussels’ Canal Plan, which aims to increase both the density and diversity of activities in the canal precinct, and to promote better urban integration.

“In Brussels, urban development also means keeping production in the city center,” explained Kristiaan Borret, City Architect of the Belgian capital. Instead of moving existing facilities to the outskirts, they are integrated into the developing neighborhoods. Two projects of the Brussels Canal District masterplan received international recognition in 2017 by winning the 5th LafargeHolcim Awards in Europe.

The construction materials village at the Vergotedok in the Port of Brussels is an illustration of sustainable urban logistics. By distributing construction materials to the city and collecting construction waste from the city, the village functions as an important logistics and distribution hub between port and city. Rather than purchasing an eco-label as an individual building, the village is part of a larger urban ecosystem.

The modular and hierarchical structure of the warehouses makes the architecture receptive to different programmatic demands of various concession holders; for example the rainwater collected on the large roof and the energy produced can be put to the service of the ready-mix concrete plant on site and serve future developments in the surrounding neighborhood.

Read project feature in 4th Holcim Awards 2014/2015 (flip-book)

Lieven De Groote notes that Holcim Awards winning projects go further than surface-level sustainability. “Material Flows: Construction materials recycling and logistics hub, Brussels, Belgium” addresses an important missing link in the material life-cycle management.

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The winning projects of the Holcim Awards 2014 for Europe illustrate how sustainable construction continues to evolve – developing more sophisticated and multi-disciplinary responses to the challenges facing the building and construction industry. An ecological reserve and remediation project in Southern Italy, a low-cost flexible university building in Paris, and a participatory urban neighborhood in Vienna won gold, silver and bronze.

The jury considers the strength of the project to lie in its objective to situate architecture – as node or relay – within a dynamic, metabolic system of material flows in the midst of a city environment. Addressing an important missing link in the material life-cycle management of the contemporary urban realm, understood as an eco-system, the design proposal aims to apply sustainability principles to the construction of infrastructure.