Roof gardens on a state-of-the-art distribution center in Rotterdam

Logistics service provider Neele-Vat moved into a new and state-of-the-art distribution center with headquarters in the Port of Rotterdam last year. The new headquarters of approximately 45,000 m2 has been realized on the former Port Park Pernis. During both the design and construction, explicit attention was paid to sustainability, energy efficiency and flexibility. Striking eye-catchers on the building are the roof gardens laid out by Van der Tol Hoveniers with the custom-made corten steel elements by FURNS Street Furniture.

"Although the end result may seem somewhat of a straightforward roof garden, I am quite proud of this project," says Mathijs van Haren, project manager at FURNS. "Not only are the huge building with the futuristic-looking office on the roof of the logistics center and the substantial roof gardens so right along the A15 and A4 a wonderful eye-catcher, the size and height of the corten steel retaining walls also made it quite a challenging project for us." 

Because just try to make those retaining walls, with heights of up to 1.80 meters, somewhat manageable, so that the executing party - in this case Van der Tol - can lift them onto the roof without too much difficulty in order to then assemble them smoothly and smoothly. "And so we managed to do that," Van Haren explains. "Precisely in order to make the execution as fast and easy as possible, it comes down to us designing and engineering the prefabricated elements as well as possible." 

Van Haren describes how the initial design of the roof gardens - one at the entrance to the office area and one as an interior garden, accessible exclusively to office staff - was with the building's architect. Architectural firm RoosRos provided the design and interior design for the office (approximately 5,500 m2). The master plan came from HofmanDujardin: they proposed turning the office building and having it cantilever over the hall. The office thus faces both the port and the highway, while the roof of the hall can be used multifunctionally for greening, parking and solar panels. By stacking the functions, the warehouse square footage was maximized and efficient logistics were achieved on the front property. 

Van der Tol then submitted the detailed 2D designs to FURNS, which in turn turned them into a 3D design. Once their offer was approved, the engineers set to work filling in the details of the custom elements. Van Haren: "This is done in the Netherlands, after which manufacturing is done at our factory in Poland." 

Although the roof gardens on the Neele-Vat building look straight and elongated, the elements that FURNS made are characterized by the sloping ramp towards the roof parking deck. "The assembly and construction went flawlessly and the result really stands out," says Van Haren, who is increasingly welcoming large industrial or logistics companies as clients. "We notice that more and more companies, even if they are not located in an inner city but on a business or industrial estate, pay a lot of attention to the well-being and health of their employees. And that results in rooftop and company gardens accessible to staff. So they can eat a sandwich in nature during their break or stretch their legs outside during work. That really does represent a trend."