A hallmark for sustainability in the DIY world

The Belgian DIY & Home Improvement retailer, Brico Belgium, moved a few months ago to a brand new building, just at the entrance of the Belgian capital in Brussels. The location at the Alfons Gosset Avenue is quite well known as the place where previously the Standard Group, one of the leading Belgian newspapers, had its offices and printing house. In itself, a move to a new building does not seem to be major world news, were it not for the fact that it is all about a pioneering and sustainable concept. In its position as the Belgian market leader in DIY, the company has more than one role to fulfil; let alone assume its ecological responsibility. The building activity constitutes the very basics and the essence of any construction project; then it only seems logical that you are expected to demonstrate and deliver how you yourself handle the skills of ‘’do-it-yourself” in harmony with the latest trends in construction and the urgent call for a greener world.

A world class example for the DIY universe

That is precisely what Patrick Vandenbogaerde, Managing Director, had in mind with the new headquarters of Brico Belgium, the Belgian head office of Maxeda DIY which also operates in The Netherlands (Praxis). “Indeed, we were challenged to start up and finish this thrilling project in the middle of the pandemic and at the threshold of the energy crisis; which honestly was more than a tough experience to cope with for our entire team”, says the boss at Brico Belgium.

As soon as you reach the Belgian capital from the South-West, the eye-catching and bright neon lighting, from a height of 25 metres, points the way to West Gate, a location where sustainability, functionality merge over a total area of 5,000 m² An awful lot of ink has already been spilled about the topic of sustainability; however, with this building we now finally have available a high-profile practical case, with facts and figures about what ecology and sustainability mean in concrete terms. This West Gate building is an NEN (Nearly Energy Neutral), modular and circular building that meets the strict EPB standards and requirements (Energy Performance Indoor Climate, Flanders).

Cradle-to-Cradle

As always, a building project is mostly the work of architects and master builders. However, in this case, Patrick Vandenbogaerde was the driving force; even though he was facing a highly complex economic climate during the postpandemic era, he still managed to set up an extremely ambitious project that became financially viable.

State-of-the-art in architecture and ergonomy

The flexible building is erected with a recyclable four layer steel skeleton structure from which any layout can be customised, with remarkably few load-bearing walls and columns. All electrical and sanitary lines are under raised floors, designed and laid according to the cradle to cradle principle (maximum reuse of recycable and finishing materials eliminating the concept of waste) thanks to recyclable raw and finishing materials such as the raised floor tiles, 60% of which are made of recyclable paper fibre. All work areas are double-glazed, with automatic blinds controlled by a weather station. In addition, the climate ceilings provide regular heating and cooling throughout the building, which immediately eliminates condensation.

In line with all these energy-saving installations, heat pumps were installed on the roof structure. The ventilation system provides heat recovery that circulates above the climate ceilings.

There is LED lighting everywhere, equipped with motion sensors that switch on and off according to physical movements in the vicinity.

Last but not least, on the roof are 48 solar panels, all facing South, which maximises the energy efficiency. In addition, the building is equipped with rain tanks with a capacity of 40,000 litres; the water mainly serves to flush all sanitary facilities and other technical non-drinking water services within the building requiring water. The spacious 150 parking areas include the facilities for 16 vehicle charging stations, each good for 11 kilowatts. There is also a bicycle shed with electric charging plugs.

In summary, the overall concept counts on annual savings of ¤25,000 in energy consumption and maintenance.

A workplace for the Brico community

The West Gate building is conceived as a hybrid workplace. The 300 Brico employees have already experienced home working during the lockdowns. Today, they are allowed to work two days a week at home and expected to return to the head office for the rest of the week. The offices are designed as 264 flexible work and meeting areas equipped with ergonomic furniture and chairs.

These offices are located on the second floor where visitors also are welcome at the reception desk. The first floor is where all the product managers (global assortment) and the marketing specialists operate whilst their colleagues in accountancy and ICT occupy the third floor. The management teams (operations, HR, general management and executive secretary) jointly work together on the fourth floor. Finally, the ground floor is where Brico has its retail laboratory, an impressive area where the merchandisers and planogram specialists, jointly with suppliers, test the product ranges and assortments for the upcoming seasons which ultimately end up instore. A great feeling for each one of the 300 Brico team players is that each employee can enjoy a beautiful outside view as each workplace is surrounded by windows.

DIY-Home Improvement Sustainability

“The sustainability transformation for captains of retail is a major challenge and it requires major investments. However, it represents an opportunity for companies to save costs and create new business models in order to differentiate themselves from the competition”; said Frank Laizet, Sr. Partner McKinsey, during the latest Eurocommerce conference, held in Brussels in November 2022.

In that extensive McKinsey Report on sustainability, it suggests that even though we are facing an additional crisis, together we need to play our part to reach the goals and targets on climate change. We need to understand the necessary investments in order to take a couple of lengths advantage on the competition.