Praktijkpunt Herent: a biobased building as a living lab for agriculture

Last Monday 8 June, the new office building of Praktijkpunt Landbouw was officially opened in Herent:

a biobased and sustainable building with logistical extensions that serves as an example of circular construction in the agricultural sector.

The new offices are designed entirely in renewable materials, including solid timber/CLT, hemp-lime and clay. A function‑neutral volume, a flexible wooden structure and demountable connections ensure that future rearrangement and reuse remain as widely possible.

With a low‑tech climate strategy, we focus as much as possible on daylight, natural ventilation, thermal mass and thoughtful material choices. In this way, we significantly reduce energy use, complemented by the reuse of residual heat from the cold stores. Less technology, more smart design.

A central patio, New Ways of Working principles and a co‑creative design process with the staff make Praktijkpunt a healthy, flexible workplace with a high experiential quality, in the middle of the test fields where work is carried out every day on the agriculture of tomorrow.