Sanitary pavilion of the Chiro d'Itterbeek (Dilbeek)

In 2018 Rotor was contacted by the municipality of Dilbeek to intervene in the festival "De Blik van Breugel" celebrating the 450th anniversary of the death of the famous painter Pierre Breugel, in Itterbeek, on the outskirts of Brussels. This festival took place from the beginning of April to the end of October 2019.

It is to design the reception pavilion of the festival that Rotor was contacted ( more information on the pavilion ). This project was the perfect opportunity for the municipality to highlight the use of recycled materials.

It turned out that the municipality of Dilbeek was planning to build, at the same time, a new toilet block for the members of the Chiro d'Itterbeek (youth organization), their premises being located in an old L-shaped farmhouse in the center from Itterbeek, right in front of the little church of Sint-Anna-Pede. This project could be combined perfectly with the need to set up sanitary facilities for visitors to the 'De Blik van Breugel' festival. This is how a second mission - the construction of a sanitary block adjoining the old farmhouse - arrived in Rotor. During its design, we proposed to the municipality of Dilbeek to develop an exemplary project in which we would use as many reusable building materials as possible . In terms of tendering, this resulted in a design and build contract for Rotor as the design-contractor, in association with the company CC Autrement. Little is known about the history of the farm where the toilet block was built. The building itself is the property of the ecclesiastical administration of Itterbeek, which makes it available to the Chiro of Itterbeek. The toilet block is the property of the municipality of Dilbeek.

This small building project is therefore an extension of the existing farm which, although completely new, is made up of less than a third of new materials (in % mass). The majority of the materials are, on the one hand, materials recovered from various Belgian operators and, on the other hand, surpluses from construction sites .

The facade, for example, is entirely made of reused bricks and joinery. The interior of the toilet block is mainly made of reused materials sold by RotorDC. We find, for example, in the floor covering, ceramic tiles from a former primary school Everheide (Brussels region) dating from the 1930s. Sanitary appliances (urinals, toilets and washbasins suspended), lighting and mirrors were also recovered, before finding their new destination in this project. The load-bearing structure, both the concrete blocks and the framework and the associated thermal insulation, come from construction site surpluses or production surpluses. The tiles are surplus from the renovation of a villa in Brussels.

The scope of this project is modest, but all the phases of a classic new construction project have been completed (foundations, sewers, structural work, plumbing, electricity and interior fittings). The ambition to work as much as possible with recycled materials has therefore been explored at all levels. The objective of this small project was to show what is possible to implement and, at the same time, to identify the main logistical and organizational obstacles that can hinder material reuse projects . In this sense, the project was also an important learning experience for all involved.

Circular economy and reuse of materials

Lots concerned by the reuse / reuse ofmaterials

• Big work

• framework
• Blanket
• facades
• Exterior wood furnishings
• Flooring
• Insulation
• electricity
• Plumbing

Materials, products and equipment reused or reused

Facing bricks - 30m², purchased via dealer Opalis Franck

Three types of brick were used: a yellow industrial brick and a rougher field oven brick, including a classic version and a finer version. These bricks were laid in successive layers which are repeated. The old red brick ensures the integration of the new building on the existing gable of the old farmhouse while retaining its individuality thanks to an atypical masonry device. The layered construction is an allusion to the masonry (silico-limestone and brick in successive layers) of the Sint-Anna-Pede chapel on the neighboring site.

External facade lintels - 5ml, purchased via dealer Opalis Gebruiktebouwmaterialen. 2 reused steel U profiles assembled together to form a lintel.

Tiles - 20m², remnants of a Brussels construction site (donation).

Exterior joinery - 2 wooden doors and 2 windows, purchased via reseller Opalis Namur Poverty Crusade and Gebruiktebouwmaterialen.

Floor tiles - 14m², purchased via Opalis RotorDC dealer . These tiles come from a former Everheide primary school dating from the 1930s and located in the Brussels region (Evere).

Wall tile - 11m², purchased via Opalis RotorDC reseller .

Sanitary: 4 toilet bowls, 2 Duravit urinals, 3 art deco washbasins and a urinal separator, purchased via Opalis RotorDC reseller.

Furniture: 2 bars for PMR and a changing table, purchased via classified ads (marketplace).

Fixtures : 5 fixtures, purchased through Opalis RotorDC reseller.

Floor & wall insulation: 43.3 m² - construction surplus/end of stock/B quality materials - purchased via resellers Opalis Bouwstocks and Gebruiktebouwmaterialen

Ceiling insulation : 18m² - construction surplus/end of stock/B quality materials - purchased via Opalis Bouwstocks reseller

Concrete blocks: 48m² - construction surplus / end of stock / B quality materials - purchased via Opalis Bouwstocks reseller

Timber frame: 49.2 ml - site surplus / end of stock / B quality materials - purchased via Opalis Bouwstocks dealer

Details of reusable materials

Bricks: importance of choosing reused bricks that blend well with the existing built environment. Research on how to lay bricks (details in the "urban environment" tab).
Brick is a stable material on the reuse market in Belgium. Discussions were initiated with the supplier (Franck) to see if a more in-depth study could be carried out in order to produce a mortar based on damaged brick powder. Unfortunately, this option could not be developed.

Doors: find hardware compatible with the holes present in the reused doors. More adaptation to do than on a new door but the cost is in the labor rather than in the new materials. In the end, buying and renovating a reused door is cheaper than buying a new door.

Tiles: the tiles taken from the Brussels shipyard were not present in sufficient numbers. We had to find the model and order the few missing parts. The indicated quantityinitially by the donor was not correct. Monetary gain on the lot recovered free of charge on site (pay attention to transport to be taken into account), small loss of time to find the missing tiles. In the end, no money wasted on this item.

Economy of functionality, recycled and recyclable materials

In addition to reused materials, other materials come from suppliers who sell end-of-stock materials, leftovers from construction sites or even downgraded factory materials. The materials concerned are:

• floor, wall and ceiling insulation
• concrete blocks
• the wooden frame

Reversibility / adaptability

Adaptability - The current size and function of the building does not allow for much evolution. If toilets are no longer necessary at this location, it may be considered in the future to remove the partition between the toilet for PMR and the other toilets and make it a single room.

Reversibility - Apart from the slab and the floor screed which were cast in place, the hollow concrete blocks, all the elements can be disassembled and reused in the future.
Most of the materials used in the project are robust materials that last over time: terracotta bricks, glazed terracotta tiles, wooden joinery, thick ceramic tiles for the floor, glazed ceramic tiles for the walls. , toilets.

Biosourced, innovative, local, low-tech materials

Regarding new materials, the partitions between the toilets are made with trespa panels, a very durable material over time requiring little maintenance. Research had been carried out to find these elements on the re-use market, unfortunately no batch corresponded to the quantities necessary for the project. Yet these are elements that are frequently encountered in office buildings that are redeveloped and transformed today.
These panels can be easily taken apart and disassembled. They also dress the support frame of the toilets in order to allow easy access to them in the event of problems, without damaging the exterior cladding.

In order to save material, the walls (existing and new) were not coated. Only the portions of the wall exposed to splashing water have been tiled. The presence of tiling on the floor and on the wall makes it easy to clean the pavilion.

Avoided impacts

Materials: thanks to the use of many re-used elements and elements from construction surplus or end of stock, the construction site has made it possible to avoid the production of new material and the impacts associated with it. The use of end-of-stock materials and downgraded materials made it possible to avoid dumping this material.
In terms of transport restrictions, most materials come from the Brussels region.

Water: a rainwater cistern has been installed to supply the toilets and urinals.

Replicability and innovation

The building was built with a large quantity of reused materials and materials from construction remains, end of stocks, downgraded materials (see the presentation brochure for the proportions of the different types of materials). This makes this small building an innovative and exemplary project. The project is also listed on the Opalis platform as an exemplary and inspiring building.(https://opalis.eu/fr/projets/toilets-pour-le-chiro-ditterbeek). It was also used to feed the materials sheets produced as part of the European research project FCRBE (Facilitating the Circulation of Reclaimed Building Elements) which aims to increase the volume of materials put back into circulation by +50% by 2032.
This project works for the development of the reuse of building materials in North West Europe, thanks to the Interreg North West Europe cooperation mechanism.

Some project results are already available and cover, among others:

• The development of the Opalis platform and more particularly of the directory of reusable materials retailers in France, the Netherlands and Belgium.
• Two guides to support specifiers in carrying out reuse inventories and in the implementation of reuse materials in public projects
• Documentaries on common reuse materials
• 36 pilot operations in terms of reuse
• A collection of booklets addressing frequently asked questions about reuse
• A statistical analysis of the reuse sector in North West Europe
• The contribution to efforts on the long-term effects of this project (public policies, institutional frameworks, etc.)

This project is led by Rotor and involves the following partners: Bellastock (FR), Bruxelles-Environnement (BE), Construction Confederation (BE), Scientific and Technical Center for Building (FR), Scientific and Technical Center for Construction (BE) , University of Brighton (UK), Salvo ltd (UK), Delft University of Technology (NL), City of Utrecht (NL) and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LU). The project started in October 2018 and will end in December 2023.

Using such materials in a "traditional" construction project is therefore entirely feasible and replicable thanks to the multiple tools and information available today.

This building is a concrete example to convince many project owners and architects that the reuse of materials is possible in construction projects, whether new or under renovation.

All the materials for reuse have been selected beforehand by us in order to best anticipate their installation and any elements or work to be planned. We received samples of bricks and visited retailers of recycled materials. For some of these materials, we purchased them directly and provided them to the contractor for implementation; for others (site surplus and bricks that are available on a stable basis from suppliers) it is the contractor who has placed an order directly with the supplier, on the basis of our advice. For materials purchased directly (specific materials whose availability is not stable on the re-use market), it was possible to store them on site before their implementation.