Elia - New passive office building
A new six-storey passive office building was erected in Brussels.
The building shell consists of a prefabricated curtain wall made up of 4,980 m² of timber frame with natural insulation and recycled anodised aluminium panels. At the Machiels Building Solutions plant, the client fitted in prefabricated form the exterior blind and all the services as well as all the joinery, the interior jamb finish and the exterior cladding with the recycled anodised aluminium. This high level of prefabrication meant that no work was needed on the exterior at the building site, considerably reducing the assembly time and costs. The entire prefabricated timber frame structure was mounted to the concrete frame structure at a rate of seven components a day.
In tests the building has achieved an excellent airtightness rating of 0.3h‑1 and has been awarded a BREEAM label and a passive house certificate. In 2011, Brussels Environment decided to make this Elia office development a showcase project due to its high energy performance and sustainability levels.
