The start of LagemaatIn 1977, Lagemaat Sloopwerken was founded in Heerde as a sole proprietorship by Father Lagemaat. In 2004, his two sons, daughter, and son-in-law took over the business. They indicated at the time their commitment to preserving the demolition company set up by their (father-in-law), while also contemplating what they did and did not want within the company. The new generation invested more in developing knowledge and skills and corporate social responsibility. For example, by involving people distanced from the labor market and in nature conservation. They focused less on the company’s growth. “Not letting the company grow further is the only goal that has not been achieved. Within ten years, Lagemaat reached two hundred employees,” Arend says with a smile.Circularity in FocusIn 2015, the concept of "circularity" emerged from Europe. It aligned with the goals they already had at Lagemaat. By around 2017, management concluded that Lagemaat needed to engage with circularity at a strategic level. “I had been discussing circularity with son-in-law Gerd-Jan for some time. In the construction and demolition sector, we must dismantle buildings and reuse materials for new construction. The architect and those who want a new building need to understand what circularity is much better. Everyone always thinks in terms of new buildings, and we need to change that. Buildings shouldn’t be demolished after ten to fifteen years. It needs to be different, and we are leading the way in the construction and demolition sector,” Arend explains.Resources Are Not InfiniteEmbracing a new circular approach is a challenge in the construction sector, as it is notorious for creating waste from building demolitions. Additionally, all new raw materials required, such as gravel, sand, glass, and steel, primarily go to construction. However, these resources are not infinitely available.R-Ladder“At Lagemaat, we work with the R-ladder. This ladder indicates what is most effective and circular to do in thirteen steps. When applied to demolition, the most circular option is R0. This means retaining the building and not proceeding with demolition. In the traditional linear chain, we have crept right to the front as demolishers. We are now often involved just before the architect in the life phases of a building. Previously, we were only engaged in the last months of a building that had stood for forty or fifty years and was to be demolished. Nowadays, a housing or real estate cooperative invites us before they invite an architect. The first thing I often say is that the building shouldn’t be demolished, which often makes quite an impression. Of course, it often happens that a building cannot be preserved, so you move down the R-ladder to R3 (re-use) and lower. For example, you remove the floors from the building for reuse. R3 is 1:1 reuse, and if you change things, it becomes R5 (refurbish),” Arend points out.Recycling Concrete and WoodRecycling is an important solution for Lagemaat. Arend states, “Concrete is a great example because it can be recycled in three ways. For instance, I can separately extract the concrete from a building and treat it with a machine. The machine grinds the material down to gravel, sand, and cement powder. This way, we go from a hundred tons of demolition concrete to a hundred tons of high-quality raw material for new concrete. We already have a business model behind this. We need to convince the concrete industry that reclaimed gravel is just as good as new gravel. We’re doing well with this now. What we do with gravel, we can also do with demolition wood, which we use to make new frames.”Convincing the Sector of CircularityLagemaat is now also a builder. Currently, there is no contractor accepting reclaimed building materials, which poses a significant hurdle. Arend explains, “What we contribute is that we inform other companies about how we implement circularity within our company. We dare to take steps that other companies do not, making us unique in Europe. We are part of a European research program, RECREATE, where we can demonstrate at scale that our method works. If a contractor decides to adopt this circular approach, they can adapt our method. This significantly accelerates circularity.”Unique Circular Knowledge CenterSoon, the company from Heerde will begin construction of a circular knowledge center. “The circular building and the functions it encompasses are exciting and challenging. We want a knowledge center where the five O’s—business with a social impact, research, government, education, and entrepreneurs—collaborate and strengthen each other. Additionally, we will provide 120 people distanced from the labor market a place to work in the knowledge center. In the center, we will test circularity in practice and train people. Students will have the opportunity to learn practically, and we want to organize conferences on circularity here,” Arend concludes.

Lagemaat thinks smartly about circular building and demolition of buildings