A LUXURIOUS HAVEN OF SUSTAINABILITY AT THE HEART OF THE FLEMISH COUNTRYSIDE

A project by Center Parcs in the North of Belgium, the Terhills Resort has recently opened its doors to the public. Located in Dilsen-Stokkem near the borders of the Netherlands and Germany, the holiday park was a large undertaking for all parties involved. Not only are the 250 cottages all unique in size and features, the Terhills Resort was also built with sustainable initiatives at the forefront.

Located right next to the Hoge Kempen National Park, the Terhills Resort offers a perfect way to wind down far away from the hustle of city life. The luxury retreat, containing a whopping 250 cottages and several central halls, was designed by Dutch agency Zeelenberg Architecture and landscape architect Jean Henkens. A former mining and gravel quarrying site, the resort is built around a stunning natural lake pastured between the trees.

The 250 spacious and modern cottages are all unique in shape and size, each tilted in a slightly different direction to provide privacy for its guests. The buildings are made up of circular, renewable materials throughout, without compromising on comfort or luxury. Most of the cottages are located near the waterside, some of them furnished with lavish features such as outdoor kitchens and even saunas.

Designed with the philosophy of the 3 P’s (People, Planet, Prosperity) in mind, no efforts were spared to make the Terhills Resort a haven of sustainability. Along with the carefully selected building materials, the central buildings’ roofs are covered with sedum vegetation. Multiple new waterways were built leading into the lake, improving the water quality and boosting local biodiversity. Designed with an all-electric plan and a battery park, the resort will partially generate its own renewable energy. Additionally, the whole resort will be accessible by an electric shuttle bus, omitting the need for residents to take their own cars. The resort will also provide many employment opportunities for the surrounding municipalities, increasing prosperity in the region throughout.

Naturally, the choice of roofing system had to comply with the overall sustainability goals of the project. Zeelenberg Architectuur prescribed the use of EPDM membranes for their superior durability of over 50 years. First, a vapor barrier membrane was installed over the wooden roof deck of the cottages, followed by PIR insulation boards. A total of 25,000 m² of 1.1 mm thick Elevate RubberGard EPDM membranes were fully adhered on top.

One of the main challenges was that the cottages were all slightly different, not only in terms of dimensions but also featuring different roof details. A Bill of Quantities Calculation (BOQ) was therefore carried out for the roof of every single cottage.

Installation was done by Elevate Master Contractor TECTUM DEKKERS within a very ambitious timeframe. Works started in May 2019 and although they were briefly halted in 2020 due to the first COVID lockdown in Belgium, the roofs of all 250 cottages were completed later that year.

In order to further reduce installation time, the membranes were cut to measure offsite. In addition, thanks to the availability of RubberGard EPDM in large panels, the number of seams was greatly reduced, with most roofs installed with one single panel without any seams at all. The ease that the RubberGard EPDM system offers when sealing roof details such as ventilation pipes was also an important asset during installation.

EPDM is the most future-proof roofing solution when it comes to sustainability, performance and design freedom. Learn more about the role it played within this project and many others by discovering its benefits.