DHL | Zaltbommel

Experiencing tremendous growth while excelling in sustainability. DHL shows that it can be done. In cooperation with turnkey builder Hercuton, DHL realized the largest e-commerce sorting center in the Benelux. And applied very ambitious environmental objectives.

With the new sorting center, capable of processing about 500,000 packages per day, DHL is responding to the ever-increasing growth of national and international e-commerce. At the same time, DHL is aware of the responsibility this growth entails in terms of sustainability. "Attention to the environment and the surroundings ran like a thread through the development and construction of this building," says Hercuton director Ivo van der Mark. "That already started with the choice of location. DHL had a strong preference for the sustainable business park De Wildeman in Zaltbommel. Through our land database Grondmaps.com, we were able to offer DHL a plot in this location."

Peel around sorting process
Van der Mark continues, "At the location in question, we initially wanted to build another distribution center, at our risk. Once DHL was in the picture, we went back to the drawing board. Together with the architects at DENC, we translated DHL's wishes into the current plan. On the one hand, the building functions as a sustainable shell around the sorting process. The construction is fully attuned to the dimensions of the sorting machine. On the other hand, the sorting center is fairly easy to convert into a regular, rentable distribution center in the future."

Precast concrete building concept
The new sorting center is built on an area of 91,000 square meters and has as many as 192 docks. A special feature of the construction is that, in addition to concrete load-bearing parts and columns, it consists of wooden trusses. These give the building a friendly appearance. The facade consists of a concrete plinth, with sandwich panels in characteristic DHL yellow above it. In the area of the office, a lot of glass has been used for a pleasant daylight experience. "Our precast concrete construction concept lends itself perfectly to this building," said Van der Mark. "Concrete is durable, solid, fire-retardant and has a high accumulating capacity. And because we work with modular, prefabricated concrete elements, construction speed is high."

The new sorting center is all-electric.Attention to the environment and the surroundings ran like a thread through the development and construction of this building.

All-electric
With BREEAM label 'Excellent', the building demonstrably demonstrates DHL's sustainability ambitions. DHL wants to operate entirely emission-free by 2050, making it the greenest delivery company in the Netherlands. "The new sorting center is all-electric," says Van der Mark. "In cooperation with neighboring Hitachi Data Systems, DHL has a large roof area with solar panels. These provide for its own power needs, including the charging of DHL's own electric vans and trucks." Other measures contributing to the BREEAM label include sustainable materials, high insulation values, LED lighting and an insect hotel. Furthermore, the low energy consumption of the building installations matches the generation values of the solar panels.

Preparation and cooperation
On Feb. 1, 2019, ten months after pile driving began, Hercuton delivered the new building. DHL needs until November 2019 to build and set up the sorting machine. "We look back on a development and construction process that went well," says Van der Mark. "Good preparation and cooperation were the key to success in this. In addition, we realized DHL's new premises according to the Building Quality Assurance Act, the Wkb. This means that we ourselves are responsible for the quality of our work and have it tested by a quality assurance agency. On this project, Seconed tested both the permit and execution process with Technical Inspection Services. Because of these checks, we know after each phase whether we are building according to the drawings, advisory reports and the Building Code. And we can show the client that the quality is guaranteed."

New development
The success of the DHL building has now led to a new development. Just down the road, on Veilingweg, Hercuton has begun construction of a 25,000-square-meter distribution center at risk.