Platform on concrete and steel in construction
Thursday, October 8, 2026, 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
AFAS Theater, Inspiratielaan 3, Leusden
Today’s generations of clients, designers, builders, and managers of buildings and infrastructure face the large-scale and far-reaching challenge of ensuring that, over time, the built environment is passed on in good, sustainable condition to new generations of users and to society as a whole.
Older bridges, viaducts, and other road and water infrastructure will reach the end of their economic—and in some cases, technical—lifespan in the foreseeable future and require reinforcement, renovation, refurbishment, or replacement. The acute housing shortage calls for accelerated housing construction. And many existing commercial and industrial buildings are in need of an upgrade, renovation, or repurposing due to changed and evolving uses and functional requirements.
A general requirement when undertaking all of these challenges is that both the design and construction process and the resulting outcomes be sustainable and future-proof.
Simply tearing down and rebuilding is no longer an option. Reusing existing buildings, structures, and elements in all their forms—refurbishing, repairing, renovating, transforming—is the recognized alternative. And that is necessary, because we must make the transition to a circular construction economy in which the use of primary raw materials is reduced to a minimum. And even when building new structures, you must minimize material use, energy consumption, emissions, disruption, and waste. But however you build, the result must be sustainable and future-proof, designed to accommodate changes in use or function.
Steel is the material of the future for future-proof development, design, and construction. At Steel Construction Day 2026, you’ll hear and see how the unique possibilities of future-proof development, design, and construction with steel are already being harnessed—and what opportunities lie ahead.
To that end, the organizer, Bouwen met Staal, has put together a varied program for the day: the trade show featuring the latest products and services from more than 50 companies and organizations, breakout sessions on architecture, structural design, steel construction, and steel-frame construction, a new edition of the Hackathon@Staalbouwdag, and the plenary conference, including the presentation of the Student STAAL Prize and the National Steel Prize 2026.
Admission to Steel Construction Day 2026 is free after registering at www.registratie.staalbouwdag.nl. Information about the event, including the program highlights and a list of exhibitors, can be found at www.staalbouwdag.nl
Daily Schedule Overview
Tentative schedule (as of August 1, 2026)
11:45 Reception and screening of videos by the platinum sponsors of Steel Construction Day 2026
11:50 The circular steel construction economy is on the horizon
Speaker to be announced shortly (on behalf of Bouwakkoord Staal)
12:10 Steel Infrastructure as Socio-Technical Systems
Mohammad B. Hamadi (Postdoctoral Researcher, TU Delft)
12:30 To measure is to know
Anton Gorter (project manager, deBoer Civil Engineering)
12:50–13:00 Lunch Break
13:15 2026 Student STAAL Award
Presentation of Entries and Nominees and Announcement of Winners
Maurice Hermens (jury chair, Haskoning)
14:00 More Than Half a Century of Intelligent Steel
2026 Lecture on the Body of Work
Jan Pesman (owner of cepezedprojects, former director of the cepezed architectural firm)
14:30 Metal 3D Printing in Construction: From Materials to Full-Scale Applications
Trayana Tankova, (Ph.D., Assistant Professor, TU Delft, and IAMFat coordinator)
14:50 IJburg Bridges 2060 and 2080
Three-part series: architecture • structural design • detailed engineering, manufacturing, and assembly
15:30 Hackathon@Steel Construction Day 2026
Announcement of the Winning Team
15:45 National Steel Award and National Steel Recycling Award 2026
Presentation of Entries and Nominees and Announcement of Winners
Thijs Asselbergs (jury chair, Thijs Asselbergs Architectuurcentrale, former professor of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology)
16:45 Screening of videos from the platinum sponsors of Steel Construction Day 2026
16:50 End of the conference
18:00 Networking Reception
