CircuS trajectory: Laakdal has its say

Today we talk to Wim Verboven, Director of Land Management of Laakdal. They are revamping their technical department.

In Laakdal, a major project is in the pipeline. What prompted a major renovation of the technical services building?

The main reason is that the current building does not meet the basic needs of our technical service. In particular, the sanitary facilities, changing rooms, showers, refectory and office space are outdated and inadequate. The project has therefore been on our planning for some time. Meanwhile, we have reached the stage of a thorough preliminary design, and are also looking at the trade-off between renovation and new construction.

Which defects or needs in the current building are priorities in the project?

The priority is really that the facilities part gets in order. Apart from that, there are of course defects of the building that are related to wear and tear. There are some leaks in the roof, that also needs to be fixed. We are also concerned about the safe storage of hazardous materials, such as fuels, oils and paints, and we want to improve this further. That way there is no danger to people working in the building.

You indicated that the renovation, which has been on the table for a while, has since evolved into a preliminary design that is incredibly thorough, but at the moment also conventional and still fairly expensive?

True. The project started as a small renovation that kept growing. As we got into it, we saw that the interventions we had to do were indeed more drastic than expected. However, we also wanted to renovate for the future and not do a renovation just to put band-aids on the wound. As a result, the budget gradually evolved into a very high budget, where we are now talking about millions anyway. We want to ensure that our technical service has accommodation that is ready for the future and suitable for them. We also offer this for our other services as an employer, so obviously this also applies to our technical service.

How does the real estate strategy, based on the inventory of your patrimony, influence the choice of this particular project?

An important one. Laakdal has some 45 buildings under its own management. That's a lot, and managing them is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive. We have therefore started a strategic property plan. The aim is not to offer less, but to manage smarter and achieve the same with less real estate. This renovation fits within that broader vision of efficiency, sustainability and multifunctional use.

Is the renovation also considering alternatives, such as a new building on the adjacent plot? Why choose this or not?

Indeed, we are fully exploring that. We realise that the interventions required for a quality renovation are so extensive that we have to make compromises to fit everything into the existing building. We have therefore decided to make an objective comparison between a thorough renovation and a new building on the adjacent plot. We want to present both proposals to the board again this spring, with an overview of their advantages, disadvantages and future orientation. This will allow them to make an objective choice.

A new building may offer more opportunities to increase the building's occupancy rate, for example by creating multi-purpose rooms that can also be used outside working hours. Perhaps there are opportunities to expand the building with a number of other functions, integrate these functions together and find a synergy. Moreover, our workshop is centrally located in the municipality, offering opportunities to combine functions or centralise them more. Costs always play a big role. We know that a new building with the same functionalities will possibly be even more expensive than the renovation in terms of investment. So we also need to see if the budget can be increased and if that fits within the multi-annual planning currently being worked on.

How will energy transition and climate adaptation be taken into account within this project?

We want to switch completely to renewable energy, but further studies will have to show which direction we take. For both renovation and new construction, we are taking climate adaptation into account through construction measures. In new construction, there may be more opportunities there, but that needs to be investigated further.

This goes hand-in-hand with the total operating cost, a decisive factor. In construction projects, this is often not highlighted much beforehand. However, the total lifecycle cost is established at the design stage.

How do you want to make your sustainable ambitions known to residents?

That is a good question. I am not a communications specialist myself. But we do have a very strong communications department, with quite some history, and that runs very well. The concrete communication strategy for this story has not yet been defined. We still need to pay attention to this. We do see a clear ambition from the board to inform sufficiently.

We also have our energy and climate officer, who himself is also incredibly committed to achieving certain goals within the local energy and climate pact, and to motivating and inspiring citizens. These kinds of trajectories can also be an important handhold to communicate about, to give explanations about and thus inspire our citizens.

What were your expectations of this project beforehand?

For me, the main expectation was to discover how we could infuse circularity into this project. We already had a preliminary design that was very traditional in terms of material use and did not take recycling into account much. We know that this is not easy, but the CircuS trajectory helps us to look at this in a different way.

We also wanted to use the process to weigh up renovation and new construction from a circular point of view. That turned out to be particularly valuable. Finally, it is important to be smarter with materials in future projects as well. This trajectory really provides a concrete feel for that. This way, we lay the foundations for how we can also work with circularity in future designs and executions.

Today, you worked with the intervision methodology, which involved a lot of discussion with the other participating local authorities. Did that methodology help to gain new insights?

Certainly it did. It helps to go into intervision with others. After all, everyone looks at things from a certain specialism. There are people here with a lot of experience. Sometimes we have different backgrounds, but everyone still looks at the projects from a heritage approach or a planned approach to the environment. Surely that has provided some valuable feedback moments.

What valuable input did you receive today during the speed dates with the experts and what stood out?

With no prior knowledge of our project, several experts immediately indicated that retaining the concrete and steel structure was a circular and CO2-friendly choice. For us, this confirmed the value of the renovation.

Furthermore, I noticed that the experts were curious about the planned development of the area. Whenever we mentioned that we might want to build on the adjacent plot, we were tipped to include not only that plot, but the entire surrounding area in our considerations.

Have you gained any concrete ideas so far to make the previously conventional preliminary design more circular, besides preserving the structure?

Indeed, we already have concrete ideas to integrate circularity in a new building. We work with a number of engineers in Laakdal, which means we quickly think in terms of materials and techniques. A flexible building is high on our agenda, which ties in nicely with circular construction. We also think about reuse and standardising building systems, which contributes to a future-proof design.

In renovation, the situation is different. Beyond preserving the structure, it is now even less clear and more abstract how we can apply circularity.

How do you plan to translate the insights gained into future-proof design?

The central question is: how do we make renovation and new construction comparable in terms of circularity? That is something we want to explore in more detail in the coming weeks. Today, we already received valuable tools for that.

What long-term impact do you hope to realise with this project for Laakdal and its inhabitants?

Whether we start on a new building or a renovation: we want to set an example with it anyway. We want to show how to approach such a construction project in a modern way, without experimenting with the latest things. After all, we cannot afford the risks of absolute pioneering as a smaller organisation. But we don't have to. Instead, we want to respond to developments that are gradually becoming mainstream, so that we can be an example and show that we have realised a future-proof building.

We have already talked about the property strategy. But perhaps we should now take a look at that future you speak of: what role can the strategy still play in further project decision-making?

A big role. It helps to identify opportunities, combine functions and use buildings more efficiently. I advocate increasing the occupancy rate of our buildings. Not by inventing extra functions, but rather by applying our offer in a much smarter way. I liken it a bit to the car that someone owns privately and which sits in the driveway a lot, but which does offer the comfort of always being available when someone wants it. That comfort falls away a bit when there is more occupancy and multi-use, but you get a more efficient use of the buildings in return.

Do you have any tips for other local boards?

Always think carefully and broadly before you start. And once you have left: resolutely follow your chosen path.