Montea’s Antwerp project wins EXPO Real Impact award 2024
Montea’s Blue Gate business park F2 development in Antwerp, created for Herfurth Group and Dries van Noten, won the EXPO Real Impact Award 2024 at the Munich fair last week.
Developed on what was once a heavily polluted brownfield site which has been totally regenerated, the Blue Gate project has multimodal transport links, features BREEAM Excellent certification, sustainable building materials such as innovative CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) and fully closable and airtight loading docks.
There will be a large installation of heat pumps and solar panels with a capacity of 1.5MWp, which will not only make the building completely carbon-neutral, but also energy-positive, which means that it generates more green energy than it consumes.
The EXPO Real Impact Awards celebrate projects that set new benchmarks in sustainability and innovation and highlight groundbreaking companies and projects from around the world, giving them the platform to highlight their innovations to investors and real estate professionals.
“This Expo Real award underlines and recognizes our long-term commitment to sustainable construction, as well as to the principles of the New European Bauhaus”, said Dirk Van Buggenhout, Chief Sustainability Officer, Montea. “We are not only focusing on sustainability but also on the aspects of beauty and togetherness.”
The EU’s sustainability initiative New European Bauhaus strives for solutions that are not only sustainable, but also contribute to a better living environment and a more inclusive society.
It is the second prize for the project, which two weeks ago won the Belgian Realty Sustainability Award in the Industrial & Logistics category.
This year marks the first time the Realty Awards have been organized to focus on the most innovative and high-impact real estate projects in Europe. The pan-European award is given to property developments which improve industrial and logistics activities, increase efficiency and encourage sustainability within the supply chain.
Montea has three sites at the Blue Gate business park, which is strategically located near the port of Antwerp for efficient last-mile delivery: DHL is active at the first, Amazon operates at the second, and the third, still under construction, will be home to Herfurth and Dries Van Noten by the end of this year.
“Developments like the one at Blue Gate clearly demonstrate that sustainability can offer genuine added value for our sector and society as a whole”, said Xavier van Reeth, Country Manager Belgium, Montea.
