Start construction circular checkpoint

Security check for access to the airfield

Checkpoints are visible at various points along the airfield. In these elongated buildings, security staff check all employees and vehicles wanting to enter the airfield. Checkpoint 90, at Postduifweg, is one of them. It will now be updated and constructed in a circular manner.

Circular demolition is done very carefully

The demolition of the source buildings for Checkpoint 90 has been completed with the greatest care. The office buildings and cargo buildings have been taken apart piece by piece. All the materials that became available, and the state they were in, were carefully catalogued. The architect then used this information to select the materials for the new checkpoint, basing his design on what was available. Steel structures, windows, doors, sanitary facilities, kitchens, LED lighting and façade panelling – everything comes from the demolished buildings.

Materials from demolished office and cargo buildings also reused elsewhere

The architect has not been able to process all the material removed from the former office buildings and cargo buildings. These materials were not moved to a junkyard but given a new destination elsewhere. Bicycle stands are reused, for example, window frames will be placed in new-builds and cable ducts will be given a second life. And have you ever been to Rotterdam The Hague Airport? It might be fun to know that the asphalt that will soon be used there is made from the roof covering from the demolished buildings at Schiphol.

Circular checkpoint fits into Schiphol’s sustainability ambitions

One of Schiphol’s sustainability ambitions is to be an airport without residual waste by 2030, and to be fully circular by 2050. This requires a different way of designing and building. The new checkpoint 90 demonstrates that Schiphol is already well on its way to achieving this. But this ambition is also increasingly taking shape in other buildings. Our mortuary, for example, was built cradle-to-cradle. We have recently added our own recycling point to our grounds, where concrete from renovations and maintenance is pulverised to create new concrete or foundation materials.

Checkpoint 90 was designed by Benthem Crouwel NACO Architects. Main contractor BAM Schiphol was responsible for the Engineering and the construction. The design of the checkpoint is 68% circular, based on the Building Circularity Index (BCI). The highest achievable score is 80%.