Greening raises business appeal of Flight Forum industrial estate

Why greener?

Flight Forum CV realised that the environment was outdated, as the premises featured a great deal of pavement and little greenery. Staff and other users indicated that they would prefer to work in a pleasant and green environment. In addition, the private owners of office lots also noticed that increasingly more tenants regarded greenery as a condition for renting a building. Ergo, Flight Forum CV launched its redevelopment plans for the office cluster from a commercial point of view. The industrial estate needed to become more appealing, in order to enable Flight Forum to sell the other lots within the office cluster as well.

How has Flight Forum set about the project?

In addition to greening the premises, Flight Forum CV also wanted to improve the environment. For that reason, the redevelopment project also addressed biodiversity and climate adaptation. Furthermore, habitat conditions had not been properly considered in the initial plans for the industrial estate, some twenty years ago, which forced Flight Forum CV, e.g., to replace plants every five years. That prompted Flight Forum to start the redevelopment from scratch:

1. Among other things, they commissioned soil studies to examine the habitats. Ecologists indicated which species were indigenous to the area.

2. Flight Forum CV drew up a vision document in which the surrounding Kempen landscape was extended into the public space at and around the clusters.

3. Following completion of the vision document, Flight Forum CV contacted the private owners of the office lots. Virtually all the owners were enthusiastic and eager to join the project. These building owners became partners and co-funded the project.

Results

Not only has the new design raised the appeal of the environment, it has also improved its climate resilience and boosted biodiversity. The removal of large sections of pavement has greatly improved rainwater infiltration into the soil, thus combating waterlogging and drought. In the summer, the greenery that has replaced the pavement is providing a cooling effect. The greenery has been specially selected for Flight Forum and comprises several indigenous species that are conducive to biodiversity.

Crate system for periods of drought

An innovative element in the new layout is the crate system that Flight Forum CV has constructed in the subsoil. This system ensures that rainwater infiltrating in the soil is retained. In periods of drought, trees and plants can absorb water from these infiltration crates, which keeps them from dehydrating. Currently, Flight Forum CV still needs to water the trees and plants, as their roots do not yet extend to the infiltration crates. However, as the roots are growing ever longer, the system will be more effective year by year, thus reducing the need for Flight Forum CV to provide additional water.

Lessons to be learned

Flight Forum CV has continually kept the parties involved abreast of the greening work and other developments in the project. Facilitating a consultation and sending out a few emails will not do in this respect, especially if the parties involved are partners and co-funders. It is important for development companies to take such things into account.

An obstacle in the project was that one of the eleven businesses refused to cooperate in greening the public space. Flight Forum CV and the businesses involved tried to win this company over, but unfortunately their attempts failed. Then what do you do? The fact is that this company’s staff actually benefit from the green public space without paying for it. Flight Forum CV did not want the project to founder. In order to provide the industrial estate with an overall green look, it has also greened the area around this company. However, it has cut down on its local measures: fewer trees, no seating, and no signage.

Contact person

Jesse Poppema
Projectmanager Flight Forum CV
j.poppema@flightforum.nl