Port of Amsterdam Selected Responsible Wood Construction

The Nautical Coordination Centre in Amsterdam is a wooden building that reflects the sustainable and circular ambitions of the Port of Amsterdam. The entire construction – walls, floors and roofs – is built with Metsä Wood’s engineered Kerto^® LVL wood product.

The circular economy is a focus of the Port of Amsterdam’s strategy. The goal is to become the most important economic and circular hub in Europe. The Port of Amsterdam’s ecosystem brings together all kinds of companies, from waste, raw materials and port logistics to different kinds of demo plants and innovative circular economy companies.

‘This beautiful and natural building material contributes to a pleasant working environment and fits the Port of Amsterdam’s ambition to build sustainably. Those who step into the building are really surprised. A practical open-space working environment greets you when you enter the building, which is ideal for a 24/7 company like the Port of Amsterdam. The industrial appearance of Kerto LVL products is fully visible, and the large floor-to­ceiling windows offer a view of the IJ river,’ says Benjamin Robichon of WRK Architects in explaining why they chose LVL-based construction.

Prefabricated Elements

All the floor, wall, and roof elements were prefabricated by the Belgian timber element manufacturer Dupac and delivered to the building site ready for assembly. For the floor and roof construction, 350 and 230 mm high Kerto-Ripa elements were used. In these prefabricated elements, the rib and top and bottom panels work together with glued joints. Most floor elements have a span of approximately 7.5 m.

‘Kerto LVL is a very material-efficient and sustainable product. In addition to its ability to store carbon, the high strength and slenderness of Kerto LVL means you need less volume than with many other wood materials. Using Kerto LVL also makes our element production efficient and easy,’ explains Marc Cuyvers, Managing Director at Dupac.

Sustainability

The building materials used are demountable and are therefore fully circular. The load-bearing Kerto LVL structure was chosen because it provides a warm and natural atmosphere in the interior. The timber structure is placed on top of a reinforced concrete foundation a. This utilizes the advantages of each material as best as possible.

Thanks to the construction in PEFC-certified Kerto LVL, the building has obtained the BREAAM Excellent certification and a low CO₂ footprint has been achieved. The total use of Kerto LVL was 200 m³, and it stores carbon a total of 159 tonnes of CO₂ eq according to Metsä Wood’s carbon storage calculator.