Unilever Global Foods Innovation Centre Wageningen twice winner of international BREEAM Awards

The Unilever Global Foods Innovation Centre in Wageningen won two prestigious BREEAM Awards - the international award for sustainable construction - in London today, along with the team from Dura Vermeer. In addition to the Global Design Award in the Commercial Projects category, Unilever also received the Global Public Award, chosen by the public.

The innovative and sustainable project by Unilever and Dura Vermeer was chosen by an expert jury from among global projects that all excel in sustainability performance and innovation and have been certified with the world's most widely used sustainability label for buildings: BREEAM.

The jury's assessment
The new building was praised by the jury for its total package of sustainable measures, in which the entire project team was involved from start to finish. In the design, much attention was paid to the themes of health, flexibility, energy consumption, use of materials and circularity, which also resulted in an Outstanding design certificate. In addition to the above themes, the jury was very pleased with the inspiring workspaces and the open appearance that invites innovation. The building is seen as a state of the art facility for healthier and sustainable food innovations and also fell well with the public. It received the most votes in the Your BREEAM Award category, resulting in the second prize of the evening.

One of the most sustainable buildings in the world
With a score above 90%, the Global Foods Innovation Centre is the most sustainable design in this building category. The Unilever building is being built on the Wageningen campus and is one of the most sustainable multifunctional buildings in the world. The Dura Vermeer team was selected in 2017 together with Paul de Ruiter Architects and other partners*) to design and build this unique building. Unilever chose these parties because of their vision for the construction process, design and innovative elements.

Patrick Kip, project manager Dura Vermeer Bouw Hengelo: "The way we worked together with Unilever and our partners made it possible for us to design and build this impressive building like this. We really took up that challenge together from the very beginning and with success!"

Serpil Tascioglu, Unilever project manager: "For Unilever, the combination of accessibility for the partners we work with and the very highest sustainability criteria was crucial. We wanted a building that was built with the most sustainable materials and had the lowest possible environmental impact in use. We are very proud of the recognition by BREEAM and we look forward to officially opening the doors of the building in the fall of this year."

BREEAM-NL Outstanding
The state of the art building, designed in collaboration with Paul de Ruiter Architects, ensures optimal interaction and knowledge exchange between Unilever and Wageningen University & Research (WUR). Previously, the Dutch Green Building Council certified the design phase with the maximum achievable sustainability certification, the BREEAM-NL Outstanding certificate.

Innovation & Experience
The 18,000-square-foot Unilever Global Foods Innovation Centre consists of a Pilot Plant, a Food & Customer Experience and two floors of offices and laboratories. In the Pilot Plant, a mini-factory, trial production of new products in limited volumes takes place. Underneath the entire building is a parking garage accessible to both Unilever employees and Wageningen University & Research.