Bleizo Logistics Centre, Bleiswijk: Project under 'high voltage'

Given the high sustainability ambitions (BREEAM 'Very Good'), the tight schedule, the high aesthetic quality and the location in a former polder landscape, also under a high voltage grid, it is literally and figuratively a project under high voltage.

Bleizo business park is very conveniently located in relation to Rotterdam: right on the A12, near the Lansingerland-Zoetermeer train station exit. In early 2020, Cordeel commissioned the project from Impact Vastgoed. "The new distribution center consists of a 43,000 m² warehouse and provides space for fifty loading docks divided over two loading pits, another 3,700 m² of mezzanine (mezzanine floors) and 2,700 m² of offices," says Bastiaan van Dijk of Cordeel. "The warehouse is split into two parts, for which we are realizing a 60-minute fire separation. We are building for Impact Vastgoed, but end investor Mirastar is also closely involved in the execution."

Aesthetic quality

A special feature of the project, according to Van Dijk, is that there is plenty of attention to aesthetic quality. Palazzo Architects' design connects the office and the industrial hall by means of a continuous track in the facade that cantilevers out at the gable ends. "We were asked by Impact Realty and Mirastar to create a distinctive design. The pearl lane with a green tinge on both the north and south sides contrasts strongly with the dark facade cladding and gives the design a recognizable, soft look," says architect Bas Rollerman of Palazzo Architects. "It also ensures that the building presents itself as a coherent whole, unlike, for example, distribution centers built a decade ago with an office on the corner. After all, the market now demands quality workplaces, also for recruiting staff." The DO design was detailed structurally by Cordeel's in-house engineering department without losing the architectural features. "Mounting the pearl track with Omega profiles on the dark sandwich facade cladding also creates a nice 3D effect," Van Dijk explains.

Technical Inspection Service (TIS).

A 380,000-volt high-voltage TenneT grid runs across part of the lot. "The design is based on this. Where the high-voltage grid runs across the lot, the building is beveled," Rollerman says. According to Van Dijk, it also brings the necessary challenges during construction. "The necessary cranes and piling rigs regularly enter the obstructing zone with their drop range. That requires continuous coordination with TenneT. And speaking of coordination, from the end investor, a TIS agency is also involved in the project. A Technical Inspection Service is an independent and expert agency that performs risk-based inspections of both design and implementation. The inspection of quality, design and safety, among other things, is much more intensive than usual," Van Dijk knows. "By the way, it is the first distribution center in the Netherlands to which a TIS applies."

Biesbosch to scale

Besides realizing the distribution center, Cordeel is responsible for the site design of the total 72,000 m² plot. "Of course the necessary parking facilities will be created, but there is also attention for nature," says Marijn Knoop of Impact Vastgoed. "For example, ecological Stepping Stones will be created on the plot, small islands that connect the adjacent natural areas on either side of the property. And on the west side of the building, a Biesbosch to scale, so to speak, will be created in the form of a water feature. That also earned extra points in the BREEAM qualification. By the way, we as Impact Vastgoed had a reservation on this lot for a long time. Almost immediately after acquiring the lot, we sold Bleizo Logistics Centre to Mirastar, which in turn appealed to final investor KKR. We remain responsible until completion."

Logistics hotspot

Mirastar is fairly new to the Dutch market. Indeed, Bleizo Logistics Centre is the investor's first project in the Netherlands. "And certainly not the last," adds Maarten Dickhoff, Project Manager at Mirastar. "The Netherlands is really booming in terms of logistics real estate and this location in Bleiswijk is fantastic. Companies like Zalando, Jumbo and Hoogvliet have also already discovered this logistics hotspot. For us, Bleizo Logistics Centre is a so-called Forward Funding Project that we acquired in a joint venture with KKR. This is how we are going to further expand our portfolio in the Netherlands in the coming period. There are two more distribution centers in the pipeline. We are aiming at the higher segment, as is being realized here in Bleiswijk, a high-quality a sustainable distribution center."

"Despite the necessary rainfall of the past period and of course corona, we are still running nicely on schedule, since we struck the first pile in early July 2020," Van Dijk observes. Bleizo Logistics Centre will be commissioned in the second quarter of 2021.