Celebrating 145 years of Haskoning

Building a better world brick by brick

The first interlocking LEGO bricks® made in 1958 still fit bricks bought today. This commitment to future generations is at the heart of the LEGO Group’s factory in Vietnam, where the company’s ambition is to operate the factory using renewable energy.

Providing construction management services for the project, Haskoning rose to the challenge of meeting exacting environmental standards on a massive scale.

Pha Vo has worked at Haskoning for four years and is project manager: “The size and scale of the factory made coordination of the project a huge challenge. We called on experience within the global Haskoning team and embracing advanced digital modelling to support collaboration. By combining the human element of daily meetings with a virtual reality twin we could work with total transparency and clear communications.”

The project included the LEGO Group’s first LEED Platinum certified buildings. Pha Vo concludes: “The skills we learnt will shape our future approach to large-scale projects and ensure we continue to push boundaries to create solutions that have a positive impact on the world.”

A lasting partnership delivers generations of progress

NACO, a company of Haskoning, first worked with Bandaranaike International Airport in Columbo, Sri Lanka over 40 years ago, helping develop the airport’s first masterplan. Since then, NACO has supported the airport with major projects including a runway rehabilitation in 2017, and most recently the development of a new masterplan, designed to guide the airport’s strategic expansion over the next thirty years.

Mary Panagopoulou, Technical Lead for the recent masterplan project: “The personnel might have changed on both sides but the depth of NACO’s our experience with Bandaranaike airport gave us solid foundations for this new masterplan which will shape the future of the airport.”

Using that experience goes beyond work on a single airport or even within a single engineering specialism. Mary continues: “Being able to call on colleagues who have worked either on a particular airport or who have experience from airport projects around the world has a big impact on the quality of our work. That extends to our wider Haskoning network too, we have access to experts across the engineering spectrum backed by a 145-year heritage.”

When NACO started work at Bandaranaike, it was measuring tapes and typewriters, now it’s 3D modelling and digital design.

Shaping the UK’s coastline and helping communities adapt

Haskoning has worked on UK coastal protection since the 1940s. Six years ago, we introduced sandscaping. Leading Professional Flood and Coastal Resilience, Jaap Flikweert, has been at Haskoning for 32 years. “The Bacton Gas Companies and North Norfolk District Council were struggling with the same issue – coastal erosion. Our experience in the Netherlands inspired the solution – a nature-based approach which uses sand and natural processes to enhance the beach. This protects the gas terminal and is buying time for neighbouring communities to adapt to the long-term threat of erosion.”

Jaap continues: “The project does not halt coastal erosion, but it has turned back time by restoring natural coastline features that slow the waves and reduce their impact – and the communities see the benefits. The project is helping shape future coastal resilience schemes. It exemplifies the benefits of working with nature not fighting it.

We use extensive data capture and advanced analytics to model the future of this coastline. But computers can only do so much; human experience remains essential. Making choices, challenging assumptions and managing complex economic and social relationships is what will ensure our work makes a difference far into the future.”