Pushing the Limits

Plug and play, the winning construction concept

With the BAURéaLS project, we are giving the French hospital Lyon Sud a forward-looking, beating heart. Following an extensive renovation of the emergency department, we are constructing a compact, vertical interventional platform on a limited site, bringing together critical care and 30 operating rooms. The new medical-technical block is plugged into the existing façade like a module, strengthening the capacity of the two surgical day-care centres.

While the campus remains fully operational, we intervene in phases within the existing structures—a precision operation that guarantees continuity. Thanks to a modular set-up and a lean management approach, we create flexibility and efficiency tailored to the needs of staff and patients. We are redesigning campus logistics, shortening journeys and enhancing comfort. The project aims to create visual uniformity and clarity. The façade will gain a distinctive identity with narrow, corrugated aluminium panels, while a central light well draws daylight deep inside and improves wayfinding.

All eyes on Europe's largest transport project

Grand Paris Express, led by the Société des grands projets, is the largest transport project in Europe: more than 200 km of new lines in the greater metropolitan region around Paris, 68 metro stations, tunnels, viaducts and strategic hubs connecting airports and cities. We are playing a key role as lead design partner (MOE Mandataire) within the HUB 17 Consortium, working with a multidisciplinary team that uses BIM as the backbone of the project.

We are leading the design team and coordinating the civil engineering studies, station designs and technical integration for the northern section of Line 17, between Le Bourget and Le Mesnil-Amelot. This line crosses two airports (Le Bourget and Paris Charles de Gaulle), an international exhibition centre and several business districts. We are contributing our engineering expertise to several metro stations, including Le Bourget – Airport, Gonesse, Parc des Expositions, and Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 2 TGV.

BIM as a bridge between design and construction

While civil works are already underway, the digital 3D models for architecture and technical systems are still under active development. Our BIM teams in France anticipate challenges by bringing models together, analysing conflicts and visualising bottlenecks using Revit indicators. This creates a dynamic pre-synthesis process that seamlessly connects design, construction and maintenance.

Last tunnel boring machine on Line 17

This tunnel boring machine is named after Virginie Guyot, fighter pilot and the first female commander of the Patrouille de France. Virginie is carving her way through 6.3 kilometres of tunnel, beneath Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. With a length of 100 metres, a weight of 1,600 tons and a cutting head 10 metres in diameter, Virginie is a remarkable technical achievement. She operates at a depth of 30 metres, drills an average of 10 to 14 metres per day and simultaneously installs the concrete segments that form the tunnel lining.

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Data driving the circular economy

For the Luxembourg Pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, whose design was awarded the Expo Sustainability Award, we are measuring circularity in an innovative way. Using the Product Circularity Data Sheet (ISO 59040) and our CircularTracker tool, we analyse the pavilion’s key components: the concrete foundation blocks, the steel structure, the aluminium façade panels and the tent covering the pavilion.

Our analyses clearly demonstrate the potential for reuse and recycling after the Expo. We also compile a complete material inventory and calculate circularity and disassembly indices for the main elements using standard methodologies. Comparative reports highlight the simplicity, speed and reliability of the CircularTracker. This approach earned the ILNAS Standardization & Innovation Award 2025.

Luxembourg's largest public wooden building generates positive energy

In Ettelbruck, there is a school building that raises the bar. With its 8,400 m², the École Nationale de Santé is the largest public wooden building in Luxembourg and the first public building with a positive energy balance, even when construction and demolition are taken into account. The sloped roofs are covered with integrated solar panels, and the façades are clad in locally sourced wood.

Inside, clay walls, seasonal rainwater recovery and hybrid ventilation ensure a healthy indoor climate. Our contribution in HVAC, sanitary and electrical engineering, as well as sustainable design principles, made this groundbreaking project possible. The building has been nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award and has achieved the stringent Minergie-P-ECO certification.

LCA meets EPD: objective data, sustainable choices

More and more often the question arises: “How sustainable is your product?” For Zand- en Grindhandel Van Ouwerkerk, we investigate this in detail. This Dutch sand extraction company dredges sand from the North Sea, before turning it into raw materials for construction and infrastructure. To do so, it operates two identical production units: the seagoing hopper dredgers Zeeburg and Middelburg. Using a life cycle assessment (LCA), we map the environmental impact of these marine aggregates across the entire value chain -from extraction to processing.

Together, we examine the process from start to finish: defining the scope, making an inventory of every input and output, and translating hard data into clear conclusions. This is followed by Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), officially verified by an independent third party. This provides Van Ouwerkerk with an objective compass for making more sustainable choices -choices that significantly reduce the impact of their raw materials and pave the way toward a circular economy.

Essential emissions insights

Zeelandia has been producing ingredients for bakers since 1900. The company wants to do more than ensure taste and texture—it also wants insight into the environmental impact of its products, and that’s where we come in. We uncover the hidden impact of products, calculate the carbon footprint of the production process, model Scope 3 emissions and develop reports that comply with European sustainability regulations (CSRD).

Scope 3 emissions are greenhouse gases not emitted directly by Zeelandia itself, but generated by suppliers or during transport. These indirect emissions often account for more than 80% of total emissions. We make them visible and measurable. This helps Zeelandia not only to reduce its impact, but also to comply with the European obligation to report transparently on environmental, social and governance matters.

Full speed ahead for green hydrogen

Hydrogen is gaining ground in Delfzijl. Together with VoltH2, we are designing a 50-megawatt green hydrogen plant in this Dutch port city, located in the heart of a chemical cluster. Once operational, the installation will produce around 5,000 tons of green hydrogen annually. This represents a significant CO₂ reduction for energy-intensive sectors such as steel and chemicals.

We are responsible for the basic engineering: from detailed preliminary design to supplier selection. We are also carefully assessing the suitability of electrolyser technologies and choose Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) technology over alkaline solutions. With modular PEM units, the system can flexibly ramp up and down between 10% and 100%, making it ideally suited for integration with wind and solar energy. Previously, we already supported VoltH2 with the permitting and subsidy application process. Why is all this important? Because hydrogen and green molecules offer a realistic alternative to high-temperature processes in the race towards net zero.