Traffic control post Barendrecht at the cutting edge of circularity

Cepezed is designing a new traffic control and incident response post (VL/ICB post) in Barendrecht for ProRail. The design achieved a building circularity performance (CPG) of 9 out of 10, a municipal practice guideline (GPR) of 44.5 out of 50 and a BREEAM Excellent rating. Clever for a building that is occupied 24/7 and full of installations.

energy-neutral
The new VL/ICB substation is located next to the station and, apart from a signal hall, includes vehicle storage, a practice area and offices. The building is energy neutral - there are solar panels on the rooftops and on the roof of the bicycle shed. Daylight is optimised, and 'light tubes' are also used to equalise daylight. And the installations are situated as efficiently as possible. For instance, outside air is used for cooling and residual heat is used for heating. Moreover, the building can be dismantled and removed, and existing ProRail furniture is reused. Outside, there are platform benches and railway gravel.

bamboo
The unusually high sustainability score of the signal box in Barendrecht is partly achieved by finishing the façades with bamboo and choosing floor covering made of recycled yarn and PET bottles. The communal space includes a central staircase and 'cascade' of wood. The landscape design by Buro Sant & Co takes ecological values into account and the façade includes nesting boxes for local bats. Slopes are planted with biodiversity and insulate the building.

ambitious client
Projects like the traffic control post in Barendrecht give cepezed the opportunity to show what is possible with bio-based and circular materials and nature-inclusive design. But this is only possible with an ambitious client. ProRail already set high demands for sustainability in the tender phase, which were not compromised in the further process. Factors such as energy, future value, environment, health and user quality are intertwined; an adjustment of one affects the other. Therefore, cepezed tested these goals several times during the design process.

Want to know more about the project? View the ProRail traffic control post.