Multifunctional storage building

The new multifunctional storage building replaces an outdated depot on ILVO’s P39 research site in Melle. It consolidates storage for machinery, materials, substrates, crop-protection products and field equipment within a clear and flexible organisation. The design prioritises efficient access, robust use and adaptability over time. Circular principles, resource-conscious material choices and passive environmental strategies support a low-maintenance building designed around the practical demands of a changing research environment.

A robust framework for research

The new multifunctional storage building on ILVO’s P39 site in Melle replaces an outdated depot whose roof and façades are no longer fit for continued use. The project brings a wide range of logistical and technical functions together in a single building: storage for machinery, substrates, field equipment and greenhouse materials, secured storage, a small container park and dedicated facilities for crop-protection products. Space is also reserved for future cold-storage facilities.

The architectural ambition is deliberately straightforward: to create a durable framework in which use, structure and materialisation support one another.

Organised around use

The plan is driven by the everyday logistics of a research environment. Large equipment, tractors and agricultural machinery require direct and uncomplicated access, while smaller materials and specialist functions demand more controlled conditions.

The different uses are therefore brought together within a clear spatial organisation that can accommodate changing requirements over time. Only the crop-protection facilities require a protected internal environment; the remainder of the building can remain technically simple and largely unconditioned. This distinction avoids unnecessary complexity while matching construction and performance to actual need.

Structure as an open system

The building is conceived as a robust utilitarian structure rather than a fixed arrangement of highly specific rooms. Efficiency, flexibility and ease of access determine its architectural logic.

Its long-term value lies in the ability to absorb changing patterns of storage and use without fundamental alteration. A simple building structure, clear circulation and limited dependence on conditioned spaces create a framework that can remain useful as research practices and equipment evolve.

Between yard and testing fields

The existing depot is accessed from the internal yard and borders directly on ILVO’s testing fields. The replacement building responds to this operational landscape, where movement, loading and storage are as important as the building itself.

External works are limited to what is required for the new facility, while the adjoining testing fields remain untouched. The relationship between building, yard and research landscape is therefore primarily functional: a compact logistical node within a working agricultural environment.

Circular by design

Sustainability is embedded in the building’s long-term usefulness. The project is assessed through the Flemish Government’s GRO sustainability framework, with particular attention to resource conservation, material selection, material passports, water, biodiversity, maintenance and circular, future-oriented design.

Existing materials with reuse potential are identified before demolition. New materials are considered in relation to environmental impact, durability and future recovery. Passive strategies are prioritised where possible, while technical systems are kept proportionate to the building’s limited comfort requirements.

The result is not a conventional warehouse with a sustainability layer added to it, but a deliberately simple building in which adaptability, robustness and careful use of resources form part of the same architectural logic.