Platform for the food and beverage industry
Two hundred years old, but still alive and kicking: Lindemans Brewery has not yet reached its finishing touch. On the contrary: the company behind the famous lambic beers is maturing in full force thanks to the realization of a state of the art satellite brewery. The aim of this pioneering project is twofold: on the one hand, to create new taste sensations by producing top-fermented beers in a sustainable, energy-efficient manner; on the other, to house a unique reception and event space for external visitors. The high-tech nature of the brewing process is optimally reconciled with the intended building quality, including an architectural nod to the craft beer tradition.
For six generations, the Lindemans family has been brewing lambic beers. It still does so in Vlezenbeek, where patriarch Joos Frans Lindemans married brewer's daughter Francisca Josina Vandersmissen in 1822. Exactly two centuries later, the brewery is ready for a new milestone in its existence, because this autumn it is opening a second production site in nearby Ruisbroek. Strategically located on the Brussels-Charleroi Canal, the 'Lindemans Satellite Brewery' supports the future growth of the company. Since exports have increased significantly in recent years, additional storage space was needed. In addition, Lindemans Brewery wants to further diversify its product range and meet the changing demands of the market.
The advanced brewing plant is equipped with dryhopping technology and is intended for the production of high fermentation beers. Through blends with authentic lambic, Lindemans Brewery aims to create new beer types based on mixed fermentation. The brand new brewing hall with milling room, fermentation room and storage area has an annual production capacity of 150,000 hl (or 120 hl per brew, of which six can take place daily). In addition, it can also serve as a reception and event space. Finally, the imposing building also houses offices, meeting rooms and a laboratory.
For the realization of its new building, Lindemans Brewery was able to count on the expert support of co-builder D+A Consult and main contractor Cosimco, who had previously built Multipharma's new distribution center on the same site. Their strong mutual bond proved golden in this challenging project. "The Lindemans Satellite Brewery is not a building of which ten have already been put. It was a unique project. So it helped that we didn't have to start from scratch and that we already knew what we could do with each other. Our professional combination of offer, planning and approach was the deciding factor in the tendering phase," says Jack Berben, commercial director at Cosimco.
D+A Consult acted as the builder's right hand and managed the implementation process from A to Z. "Managing directors Dirk and Geert Lindemans are brewers, not builders. That's why they opted to have the central builder role filled by a professional party. We have a lot of experience with co-building management and were, as always, the 'single point of contact' for all parties involved," says Hans Gielen, CEO at D+A Consult. "Lindemans Brewery realized the brewing installation in-house, but we took care of everything else," adds project manager Yuki Suzuki. "A brewery building is very specific. For example, it incorporates a lot of piping in order to supply all kinds of gases, liquids and raw materials quickly and efficiently. That obviously brought with it the necessary technical challenges."
Although the brewing process is now almost completely automated, Lindemans Brewery still attaches great importance to the artisanal beer tradition. This is also reflected in the architecture and interior design of the Lindemans Satellite Brewery. "The concave brick facades, conceived as an aesthetic nod to the building's characteristic cylindrical tanks, give the whole building an authentic touch. This cylindrical shape also recurs in the circulation shafts at the entrance level, which house a glass elevator on the one hand and a spiral staircase on the other. Another eye-catcher is the large window on the east side. This reflects the dual function of the new brewery building: on the one hand, the ground-floor technical installation with five imposing brew kettles, and on the other, the visitor area on the second floor," Suzuki explains. "That it has become such an expressive building is certainly also due to the fact that Lindemans Brewery had a great eye for detail," Gielen believes. "This translated, among other things, into an extremely high-quality interior finish. From the choice of materials to the color of the interior joinery: nothing was left to chance. This led to an ideal synergy between functionality and experience."
"A lot of attention was paid to the remarkable aesthetics from the beginning," Berben agrees. "We considered prefabricating the concave facades, but the dimensions were so large that we ultimately opted for classic masonry. That required a lot of man hours, craftsmanship and flexibility, but in retrospect it was definitely the best choice. In an era when prefabrication is gaining in importance every day, artisanal realizations like this are becoming increasingly rare. It was no easy feat to reconcile the underlying technicality with the refined aesthetics, but when you see the result, we can confidently say that we succeeded in our mission!"
Another aspect that makes the Lindemans Satellite Brewery so special is its emphatic focus on sustainability and energy efficiency. The heat released during the production process is maximally recovered for the creation of subsequent brews, the heating of the building and the production of hot water. The wastewater is then pumped back to a specially constructed treatment plant and then reused. "Thanks to its years of experience in the brewing business, the Lindemans family knows better than anyone how precious water is and how important it is to use raw materials and energy in a smart, economical way. Even given the current price increases, this is obviously no superfluous luxury. The sustainability philosophy is so far-reaching that even the exterior pavement is equipped with underfloor heating. The driveways, entrance and loading docks can thus be kept free of frost and snow using residual heat," Suzuki explains. The efficient use of space also frames the persistent pursuit of sustainability, Gielen points out. "The built volume includes an enormous amount of useful surface area. I know of few other industrial buildings where the storage space is organized in height, with a lot of vertical transport. So the Lindemans Satellite Brewery is also progressive in that respect."
Construction of the new brewery building began in December 2020. Completion took place on June 3 and the official inauguration is scheduled for this fall. "We can look back on a very successful project," Berben concludes. "The corona crisis obviously had an impact on the execution process, but thanks to the constructive dialogue and short lines of communication between all parties involved, it did not negatively affect our operation. The fact that our role was not limited solely to the executive part has also been an important success factor. If you are not involved in the decision-making process, it is much more difficult to realize such a unique project qualitatively. The end result is accordingly. This building is not just a shell around a state-of-the-art brewing facility. They are communicating vessels that together are more than the sum of their parts." "What has positively amazed me is that few if any mistakes were made during execution," Gielen emphasizes. "This is due in part to the meticulous application of BIM. We insisted that all the partners involved do their part in the realization of the joint 3D model. For example, Lindemans Brewery explicitly went looking for a specialized installer who could deliver the design of the brewing installation and boilers digitally. This paid off, as we were able to reduce failure costs to the maximum, despite the technical and structural complexity. The building owner also deserves credit. Other clients would have put their plans on hold, but Lindemans Brewery was not deterred by the corona crisis. Future-oriented investment in uncertain times: that deserves nothing but respect!"
