An incubator for sustainable chemistry was established on the Blue Gate Antwerp site with the BlueChem building. The incubator aimed to facilitate start-ups and offered a range of flexible lab and office spaces for companies on the site. Flexibility was thus a crucial factor in this architectural and technical design.

The Blue Gate Antwerp site was an initiative to develop a sustainable business park on the Scheldt River in Antwerp. The BlueChem project was located in the southernmost zone of the site and, together with the adjacent BlueApp building, formed the gateway to the site. The building had to meet the site conditions and the image quality plan of the site, and had to achieve a BREEAM Excellent score.

BlueChem was an incubator building for sustainable chemistry. The incubator aimed to facilitate startups and offered a range of flexible lab and office spaces for companies on the site. Flexibility was thus a crucial factor in this architectural and technical design. BlueChem focused on sustainable chemistry and targeted companies within the traditional chemistry sector that focused on sustainability in the areas of valorization of waste and by-product streams, process optimization, development of sustainable products and renewable chemicals. The building included offices, laboratories, meeting rooms, technical areas, storage areas and areas for general management.

There was provision for connection to Infrax's renewable heat grid, as well as a PV installation on the roof to harness solar energy. In combination with a well thought-out architecture and a smart concept for the technical systems, the BEN label was achieved for the BlueChem building. For the Blue Gate site, Ingenium examined the feasibility of the sustainable strategy on the basis of the energy requirements and developed a global vision up to realization. The use of residual heat and waste streams was also investigated in this study.

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