With the European housing crisis deepening, there is an urgent call for innovative solutions to address the growing demand for affordable housing. In these circumstances the necessity for strong partnerships and collaboration within the industry is more important than ever. With cooperation in over a dozen projects, using thousands of m² of Ytong autoclaved aerated concrete and Silka calcium silicate units, Xella and BILDIN are a paradigm of collaborative strength in Belgium. Their common goal: making construction more innovative and thereby more efficient and sustainable. BILDIN is a construction company specialized in construction works from A to Z, from shell construction to complete construction, both for project developers and for private individuals. After 4 successful years in the market, they won the category of “most promising” young company at Bouwunie's Golden Brick award. Their focus on stylistic decisions like exposed concrete on facades and the need for product flexibility for difficult structural designs fit perfectly to the properties of our products.

Large formats for the largest cooperation project at Park Puur

The Park Puur community is a quiet, green residential landscape in Merchtem, near Brussels. The complex, tied together by a large yard, required innovative ways of building, because of its scale and design choices. From the beginning on, a lot of attention was put to a sleek architecture made from high-quality materials. The use of large-format prefabricated Silka blocks offered a solution for that in addition to efficient and speedy construction. Large formats are particularly suitable for projects of considerable volume where quality and rapid construction progress are of prime importance. The large-format blocks are designed to create up to seven times more space in one step than conventional construction elements. Another advantage: thanks to the large, even surface area and the minimization of the necessary construction steps, the error rate is reduced, and the walls are smooth and straight.

“The Silka blocks stood out to us as a very high-quality solution. The acoustic and thermal properties exceed what we typically find in the market. As a young company we are eager to explore new and innovative approaches and working with Silka enables a building process that is quite different from traditional masonry. It allows for seamless and relatively clean construction, as the walls are prefabricated precisely and do not require cutting. The implementation can be done with technical equipment such as small cranes, reducing physical strain on our workers — something that is a key priority for us and aligns with our general approach to sustainability, says Jonas Willems, founder and chief executive of BILDIN.
 
The focus on sustainability can be seen in every element of the Park Puur project. Extensive insulation and innovative techniques were the starting point for each residential unit.  Photovoltaic solar panels on the roof ensure a low electricity bill. The use of materials plays into that with the use of Ytong panels for inner walls that bring in their insulating properties. The panels were mounted with the help of Xella Belgium’s Construction Services team, helping them fit into a concept that guarantees the architectural identity within the variety of residential typologies. All buildings additionally use facing bricks in 3 shades that are repeated in both the single-family homes and the multi-family homes. Depending on the typology, the facing stone is combined with slates, solid core panels or concrete elements in a shade that is complementary to that of the stone. The materials used are not only reflected in the architecture of the buildings, but also in the environmental design. The overall volume of Ytong and Silka products in this project amounts to 1866 m².
 
Park Puur is currently in its final phase of construction after almost 3 years of working on the huge project, encompassing 133 units and a total living area of 16,500 m².

In the gallery below, you can see other cooperation projects of Xella and BILDIN.