Brabantia Design Center: sustainable and transparent

Who hasn't grown up with Brabantia's iconic products? The first milk cans were made by Van Elderen & Co as early as 1919, but in the early 1950s the first, world-famous products appeared such as the kitchen ladder, the ironing table, the storage can and especially the pedal bin. Since then, countless design classics have been produced. The new headquarters on Leenderweg in Valkenswaard, also known as Brabantia Design Center, with its unusual design, fits seamlessly into this series. On April 4, this highly sustainable building was inaugurated.

The new headquarters stands on the site of the old 1960 headquarters. To this end, the old building was carefully demolished and after the remediation of the land, Bouwbedrijf van de Ven could begin the realization of the characteristic design by AA Architects. Rob Gielis, project manager of Bouwbedrijf van de Ven, is delighted to have been allowed to collaborate on this project. "Not only is it a fantastic design with its oval shape, corten steel skin and large curtain walls, it has also become a very sustainable building."

Pedestal

The steel-founded building itself was raised one meter above ground level. Gielis: "The ground was raised and we made a concrete wall on a foundation strip on top of it that forms the pedestal of the whole thing. A beautiful building like this is best put on a pedestal. On this we then laid a concrete floor that was finished monolithically. This forms the basis of a wooden construction of Cross Laminated Timber columns, beams and floors. For the curved ends of the building, Hektracon fabricated a steel structure of HEA beams. The beauty of this shell is that it can be completely disassembled and reused at the end of its service life. This helps fulfill Brabantia's high sustainability ambitions."

End gables

The longitudinal facades are filled with continuous curtain walls with triple glazing. The curved form is entirely clad on the outside with Corten steel sheeting. Gielis: "That round shape refers to the well-known pedal buckets. Seen from one side, the end façade extends over the office block, creating a gateway in which cutouts have been made. The runner drawn from the parking lot on the south side to the main entrance on the north side runs through this gateway and thus past the showroom, where a nice selection of pedal buckets with their typical round shapes can be seen behind the curtain wall." The Corten steel sections are finished on the inside with sandwich panels with a white finish.

Industrial with wood

Inside, the concrete is limited to a cast floor with EPS insulation on the wooden floor on the first floor to reduce impact sound. "And of course the monolithic finished floor in the offices and corridors on the first floor," adds Gielis. "Those give the spaces a nice industrial look. Furthermore, the building shows a lot of wood. The construction of floors, beams and columns is left in sight and the interior doors, window frames, the floor in the canteen and the stand in the central hall are also made of wood. Living walls with plants complete the green experience."

For Gielis, it has become a nice reference on his list of completed projects. "It is of course a beautiful appearance on the Leenderweg. In addition, the level of sustainability is very high. It has become a nice building to work in. Then we have put down something beautiful after all."