| 28th September 2022, Amazon’s first Belgian site in the Antwerp Urban Logistic Accomodation (AULA) project at Blue Gate Antwerp is delivered. Amazon will serve both the city centre and the wider Antwerp area from here. From now on, Amazon occupies a highly sustainable, future-proof and above all healthy building at Blue Gate Antwerp. |
| Amazon commits to being carbon neutral by 2040. In 2019, they co-founded The Climate Pledge – a commitment to be carbon neutral with the entire company by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement. It is therefore logical that, for their first Belgian delivery zone, they not only looked for a strategic location from which to serve both the city centre and the wider surrounding area but also sought a business park and building that would facilitate them in achieving their carbon-neutral 2040 goal. The establishments at Blue Gate Antwerp, including Amazon, have a good guiding canvas (e.g. establishment conditions, development plan in function of the future, CSR reporting) as well as a supportive context (community, sustainability advice) to walk their sustainability course. Blue Gate Antwerp is a pioneering 65-hectare business park. At the ecological level, a positive impact is generated anyway, because a brownfield rather than a greenfield was created, which was remediated on the one hand and provided with a green corridor (15 ha) with wadis on the other. On an economic level, space is created here for employment and sustainable economic growth. On a social level, positive impact is generated by landscaping the business park with green and blue elements. Amazon’s latest delivery station is on its way to an ‘Excellent’ certification by BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method). The sustainable building comprises a warehouse (5,764 sq m), mezzanine (517 sq m), office space (2,157 sq m) and a parking building (40,000 sq m). The delivery station was developed by Montea, since 2016 the exclusive partner for the development of the logistics zone at Blue Gate Antwerp. In 2021, Montea already developed a similar project for Amazon near Amsterdam. Climate warming poses several risks to buildings. On the one hand, there are the physical risks such as higher temperatures and extreme rainfall, and on the other, the transition risks such as higher energy prices, changing legislation such as EU taxonomy*, stricter insulation standards and energy performance requirements or changing market demands. Forward-looking companies therefore take all the foregoing risks into account when choosing their accommodation. *The EU Taxonomy is the European Union’s initiative to define what constitutes sustainable economic business activities. Aiming for a greener future through greater transparency The façade of the Amazon building is circularly conceived with demountable elements. The heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) in the Amazon building is controlled by a digital building management system (BMS) which results in a comfortable working environment on the one hand and a reduction in energy consumption on the other. The building is equipped with solar panels and LED lighting. The entire project includes a high-performance rainwater drainage network to collect and reuse rainwater. The building has also already taken into account the ongoing transition to e-mobility. Amazon is on track to make its operations 100% renewable energy by 2025 and is already the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy in Europe and the world. So with Amazon, we have another incumbent on BGA who is committed to working with us to make the necessary sustainable transition. “The government is currently working very hard on solutions to the energy crisis and achieving climate ambitions. But companies themselves will also have to do their bit. Amazon shows with its Antwerp site what is possible, especially if companies set up in a circular business park like Blue Gate Antwerp.” – Alderman for Economy Erica Caluwaerts |
| For additional info, journalists can contact BGAD Katrien De Coster Communications and Press Officer GSM: 0032 475 68 35 48 or katrien.decoster@bopro.be |
| Blue Gate Antwerp, a PPP The development of the circular business park Blue Gate Antwerp came about through a public-private partnership BGAD. On the public side, on the one hand, the Flemish government is co-investing in this project through do-and-dare company PMV. On the other hand, the City of Antwerp supports this redevelopment of Petroleum South through the autonomous municipal real estate and urban projects company AG Vespa. On the private side, we find DEME Environmental Contractors (DEC) as expert for the remediation of this brownfield and Bopro, sustainable real estate consultant and developer of the site. Montea has been appointed by BGAD as logistics partner. |
