POLO designs Telenet's new headquarters in Mechelen

POLO has designed The Quint, three office buildings at the Ragheno site in Mechelen, one of which will house Telenet's new headquarters. Conceived as one of the most sustainable workplaces in Flanders, the three buildings form a single architectural family around a shared green courtyard, translating that ambition into an architecture led by material choice, circularity and a deliberately low-tech approach to comfort.

The largest timber construction project in Flanders

That ambition starts with the structure itself. The Quint is designed as an intelligent timber casco: columns, beams, floor elements and even the insulation layer between structure and façade are built almost entirely in wood, making it set to become the largest timber construction project in Flanders. The choice for timber is not only a matter of embodied carbon, it shapes a rational, modular grid with generous floor heights that keeps the building open to future uses, while allowing a high degree of prefabrication that sharply reduces construction waste, site time and material loss. Where structure does call for masonry, non-load-bearing walls are raised in hemp-lime blocks finished with natural lime plaster, and insulation relies on mineral wool rather than petrochemical foams; consistently choosing healthy, vapour-open materials over conventional alternatives.

Circularity by design

This same logic extends into reuse. Wherever new materials are applied, they are assembled with mechanical, demountable connections so components can be recovered at the end of their life cycle. Just as deliberately, the design makes room for materials with a history: sanitary fittings, raised floors and doors salvaged from other projects are being given a second life within The Quint, turning circularity into a visible design decision rather than an afterthought. 

The roofscape follows the same principle. Every roof is laid out as an intensive green roof and doubles as a smart retention roof, together buffering close to 520 m³ of rainwater, which is then reused on-site to flush toilets and irrigate the courtyard and roof gardens, while timber-clad rooftop volumes and pergola structures let the technical installations dissolve into the planted landscape.

First project to break ground on the Ragheno site

It is this combination of structural logic, material restraint and circular detailing that the project's certification ambitions aim to formalise: The Quint is targeting BREEAM Outstanding and WELL Platinum. 

The permit procedure is expected to conclude by the end of 2026, with construction starting in early 2027 over a build period of roughly three years, making it the first project to break ground on the wider Ragheno site.