Design Principles for a BREEAM-Certified Building
Solutions Name
Design Principles for a BREEAM-Certified Building
Offer Type
Solution offer
Description
This project demonstrates how an office building can become a genuine tool for environmental regeneration while reducing operational and maintenance constraints. Certified BREEAM Excellent, the development is based on an integrated approach in which green infrastructure, passive solutions, flexible use, and long‑lasting design choices serve as the main performance drivers.
Built on an 8,150 m² plot within a business park, the project transforms a previously highly mineralised site into a functional ecosystem. Whereas the land was historically covered almost entirely with gravel surfaces, more than 4,470 m² are now dedicated to vegetated areas composed of indigenous species, including a significant proportion of melliferous plants. This diversity supports local biodiversity, enhances the ecological quality of the site, and helps mitigate urban heat‑island effects. The strategy strengthens the overall climate resilience while offering users a healthier and more pleasant working environment.
Rainwater is treated as a resource rather than waste. The project integrates a decentralised stormwater‑management system combining 90 m³ of rooftop retention with 112 m³ of storage beneath landscaped water features. Together with a high proportion of permeable surfaces — including grass‑paver parking areas and dolomite pathways — this approach reduces runoff, limits discharge into public networks, and improves resilience during extreme weather events. Retention systems are fully integrated into the landscape, combining technical functionality with high‑quality outdoor design.
The design also prioritises passive solutions to reduce energy consumption and maintenance needs. The central open‑air patio, connecting levels -1, 0 and +1, provides generous natural light to the building’s core while enabling natural ventilation of the underground car park. This avoids the need for complex mechanical systems, reduces energy use, and lowers long‑term operating costs.
Durability guided the choice of materials and construction system. The ground floor is clad in locally sourced stone from a nearby quarry, ensuring robustness, low transport impact, and excellent longevity. The prefabricated concrete column‑and‑beam structure follows a regular grid that allows future spatial adaptability. The absence of load‑bearing walls makes it easy to reconfigure floors as needs evolve, supporting reversibility and extending the building’s life cycle.
Finally, the spatial organisation promotes human interaction, occupant well‑being, and shared use. Workspaces are grouped on a single level to encourage collaboration, while common service areas open onto the landscaped surroundings, enhancing conviviality. The project demonstrates that a design rooted in green infrastructure, optimised maintenance, technical sobriety, and flexibility can generate long‑lasting environmental, economic, and social benefits.
Themes
Recycling TechnologiesSustainable construction and renovationClean energiesBioeconomyWater and environment
Geographic zones
Belgium
Who is the solution for?
To local governments and industry leaders. The solution can be adapted to any type of request and to any type of developer seeking to align their project with a sustainable approach.
Environmental benefit
Any new construction inevitably generates negative environmental impacts: resource consumption, land development, and emissions associated with materials and operations. The project is therefore designed to minimize these impacts as much as possible, while meeting an essential need: to create functional and sustainable workspaces.
A major challenge of the project is the redevelopment of a site with low biodiversity, which was originally largely mineral-based and consisted of gravel surfaces. The solution transforms this site into a green, living environment, promoting the return of biodiversity through the use of local and nectar-producing plant species, and reducing the urban heat island effect.
The solution also addresses water management by implementing an on-site stormwater management system. Water is stored, slowed down, and infiltrated through integrated features and permeable surfaces, limiting runoff into the drainage system and restoring the natural water cycle.
The solution also addresses water management by implementing an on-site stormwater management system. Water is stored, slowed down, and infiltrated through integrated features and permeable surfaces, limiting runoff into the drainage system and restoring the natural water cycle.
Finally, the flexible structure, sustainable materials, and a design focused on simplified maintenance extend the building’s lifespan and limit the need for major future interventions, thereby reducing its overall life-cycle impacts.
Thus, the project does not seek to avoid construction, but rather to rebuild intelligently on a degraded site, transforming land of low ecological value into a functional ecosystem, while minimizing unavoidable impacts and maximizing practical value.
Environmental impact gain - continued
Environmental Performance Indicator 1: Reduction of Soil Sealing and Site Renaturation
The project transforms a plot that was initially almost entirely mineral (≈ 8,150 m² of gravel) into a heavily vegetated site with approximately 4,470 m² of green space, representing more than 55% of the total renaturalized area. This transformation leads to a significant improvement in local biodiversity, a reduction in the urban heat island effect, and improved natural water infiltration.
Environmental Performance Indicator 2: On-site stormwater management (reduction of discharges into sewer systems)
The project provides for the retention of approximately 202 m³ of stormwater (90 m³ on the roof + 112 m³ in the water feature). Combined with permeable surfaces (≈ 655 m² in total, including grass pavers and dolomite), this strategy significantly limits runoff and reduces pressure on the stormwater drainage systems, particularly during heavy rainfall events.
Environmental Performance Indicator 3: Flexibility and Reduction of Life-Cycle Impacts
A post-and-beam structure with a regular grid pattern allows for complete adaptability of the floor plans without structural demolition, reducing future waste associated with renovations and extending the building’s service life.
Solution type
Process
Solution maturity level
Completed and qualified real system through successful operational missions (TRL 9)
How does the solution work?
This solution consists of an office building designed to minimize its environmental impact while providing a comfortable, flexible, and easy-to-operate work environment.
The project is based on three key principles: nature, water, and technical simplicity. A large portion of the lot has been transformed into green spaces planted with native species that promote biodiversity. Rainwater is collected and temporarily stored on the roof and beneath landscaped water features before being gradually returned to the natural environment. Permeable paving also allows water to infiltrate directly into the ground.
At the heart of the building, a courtyard brings natural light into the interior spaces and provides natural ventilation for the underground parking garage. This design reduces the need for technical equipment, lowers energy consumption, and minimizes maintenance requirements.
The building was also designed to adapt over time. Its open layout makes it easy to reorganize workspaces to meet future needs without requiring major construction work. Durable and robust materials, some of which come from local sources, were prioritized to ensure the building’s longevity.
Finally, technical equipment has been consolidated into easily accessible areas, simplifying maintenance and reducing operating costs.
By combining sustainable water management, biodiversity, passive solutions, flexible spaces, and optimized maintenance, this solution offers a concrete and sustainable response to environmental challenges and user needs.
If applicable, what is the added value compared to conventional solutions?
Compared to a “traditional” office building, the proposed solution is based on an integrated approach in which the building functions as a holistic system rather than as a collection of separate technologies.
Whereas a standard project quickly diverts rainwater into the sewer system, this solution manages it on-site using retention systems on the roof and beneath the landscaping, supplemented by permeable surfaces. The water is thus stored, slowed down, and reused as part of the landscape, reducing pressure on public infrastructure and limiting the risk of overload.
Unlike fully mechanical ventilation and lighting systems, the building utilizes passive design principles: a central atrium provides natural light deep into the structure and allows for natural ventilation of the underground parking garage. This reduces energy consumption and minimizes reliance on complex mechanical systems.
From a structural standpoint, the post-and-beam framework offers great flexibility in layout, unlike traditional buildings, which are more constrained by load-bearing walls. This allows spaces to evolve easily over time without the need for major construction work.
Finally, the design incorporates simplified maintenance objectives from the outset, with technical equipment grouped in accessible areas and durable materials selected for their robustness and low maintenance requirements.
This approach thus replaces the concept of a “resource-intensive and highly technical building” with that of a simple, adaptable building managed by the natural functioning of its systems (water, air, light).
Have you already implemented this solution for an industrial client/a local authority? If so, can you name a client who would be willing to testify about the implementation of your solution?
Yes
For SOCOGETRA (a BESIX subsidiary) for their new headquarters in Marche-en-Famenne
Has your solution been labeled, certified, a winner of a competition/award, etc.? If so, please specify (e.g., Solar Impulse Foundation label, Greentech award, etc.)
Yes, BREEAM Excellent certificate
Location
Wallonie
