Distribution center 2.0 grows more sustainable with living walls and roof gardens at Schiphol Trade Park

Mobilane’s living wall system, MobiPanel, proved to be the ideal option to incorporate living walls into a new distribution center at Schiphol Trade Park along the A4 motorway. With a total surface area spanning 750 square meters, the facades of the new distribution center have gone green using Mobilane’s latest generation of vertical greenery.

Sustainable and innovative distribution centre

The appearance of the new distribution center was a major focal point during this project. In the final plans by Dedato Architecten, sustainability has not only been considered on the inside, but on the outside of the building too, as is instantly evident from its nature-inclusive design. Dick Venneman, architect and owner of Dedato Architecten , explains: “This is a building with its own characteristic appearance; a landmark visible from the motorway. The materials used for the building convey a friendly and accessible image. The different surfaces in the facade scale it down to human proportions. The living walls and the vertically positioned solar panels hint at the sustainability of the building and play a role in the preservation of biodiversity in the area”.  The MobiPanel living walls used in the development instantly render the surrounding area more sustainable and improve air quality. The installation of the living walls was carried out by Mobicare in partnership with Zoontjens Boomprojecten .

Distribution centre 2.0 Schiphol Trade Park

The building spans 30,000 m2, of which 3,000 m2 is set aside for offices. Underneath the distribution center, there is a parking garage spanning 7,500 m2 with space for 270 cars. The construction of the new distribution center started in 2020 and was overseen by Dijkham Bouw BV. “For environmental and wellbeing reasons, and to prevent the development from looking too boxy, we made a deliberate choice to incorporate living walls, green roofs, and landscaping right from the design stage. We are extremely satisfied with how the project has turned out. The end result is excellent, and communication was great”, Marcel Smeets, coordinator at Dijkham Bouw BV, comments. The distribution center was developed by Minerva Development, an independent developer with many years of experience in the development and realization of business premises. “One of the objectives Schiphol Trade Park has set for itself is to be one of the most sustainable logistics centers, and as developers, we were more than happy to take on that challenge. Aside from all other amenities, such as solar panels, we opted to incorporate plenty of greenery in the design, not only on the facades, but in the area surrounding the building and on the roof too. We are very happy with the end result and proud of the fact that due to its living walls, this is by far the most esthetically pleasing DC in the area. We cannot wait to see what the building will look like in a few months when everything is in bloom”, Minerva Development’s Bob Lukassen adds.

Latest generation of vertical greenery

When exploring the options for adding greenery to the distribution center, Mobilane’s new MobiPanel living wall system came out on top. MobiPanel is an innovative, sustainable, and lightweight system for living walls. It is a modular and circular system consisting of omega profiles and pregrown plant cassettes (40 x 40 cm), fitted with an automatic irrigation and drainage system. The plants in the cassettes are watered through capillary action. MobiPanel can be installed on flat or curved walls and is suitable for different types of walls, including certain types of sandwich panels. For the facades of the new distribution center, sandwich panels by Cladding Point were used. “With Mobilane bringing on board its global expertise and many years of experience, we can continue to lead the way in innovation and sustainability. Cladding Point and Mobilane are all set to move things forward together”, Frank Janssen, Managing Director at Cladding Point, comments. Cladding Point’s Design+ Carrier sandwich panels help the building achieve the highest BREEAM category.

Client: Minerva Development
Architect: Dedato Architecten
Construction period: 2021
Installation: Mobicare