Opening of new Marginpar building
A grand celebration
Sierteeltstraat 29
Marginpar’s 2023 is off to a flying start: the new head office officially opened just before the end of the year! From the windows of the old building, across the N201, construction was already closely watched. Now that the move is behind us, employees are enjoying a nice, bright, modern, green, inspiring and comfortable workplace at Sierteeltstraat 29.
On 15 February it was time to celebrate the new building with our partners. With more than 150 guests, it soon became pleasantly busy. General Manager Michel Zaat and co-CEO Rob Koning welcomed everyone and raised a toast. After this official opening, the moment was there: viewing the new premises. With a floor plan in hand, people divided into three groups to take a look behind the scenes.
The logistics hall
The first group started on the ground floor. Here, three colleagues were ready to take a group of people each and show them everything, from the gigantic cold store to the robotic arm, and from the pellet roller conveyor to the production line directly connected to the auction. Try keeping everyone together then! Soon, tufts of people were walking everywhere, purposefully heading towards what fascinated them most.
The 9000m2 hall is extra light, thanks to the skylights installed in the roof. The hall is air-conditioned, allowing the flowers to be processed at optimum temperature, which contributes to a longer vase life. The logistics are equipped with four processing lines, capable of handling almost 1.5 million stems daily (with potential for more). One of the most striking parts in the mechanisation is the yellow robot, which fills buckets with water. Developed specifically for Marginpar, this robot processes four times more buckets than its human counterparts. Those forces have been shifted to the back of the line, where extra hands are now needed to stack the filled buckets of flowers on the trolleys.
But it doesn't stop there. Marginpar flowers are flown in daily from production sites in Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. Thanks to inbound mechanisation, the aircraft pallets can be unloaded efficiently 24/7. They are then transported with the Castor Deck - a metal roller bank - to either the cold store or the pit. The two pits sink into the ground as soon as they are loaded, allowing our employees to unstack the boxes horizontally, efficiently and in accordance with Occupational Health and Safety Law. Our cooling capacity has tripled with the new cold store. For an optimal cool chain, the 3800m2 cell is divided into different temperature zones: flowers in boxes at 2⁰, flowers in buckets at 3⁰ and distribution and order picking is done at 4⁰ Celsius.
Product street
One of the major advantages of this new location is the physical connection to Royal FloraHolland's logistics. Where previously the carts for RFH Aalsmeer were driven into trucks at the end of the day, now the full carts go directly to the auction several times a day via the product street connected to our premises. This further intensifies the cooperation between Marginpar and Royal FloraHolland.
Entrance
At Marginpar, we love stories, and that starts at the entrance. The vase wall shows a cheerful glimpse of our range, while the illustrated green wall intrigues visitors as they climb the stairs to the 1st or 2nd floor. The specially designed illustrations can be seen all throughout the building. The design for each wallpaper, glass wall and the signing varies from room to room.
1st floor
The first floor, which houses Marketing & Sales, was the place to go for a special overview of the product range.
Here, Marketing & Sales manager Michiel van Paassen was on hand to tell visitors all about the 'vase parade' on display in the work café. He even showed some sneak previews of new products to come! Thee work café is used daily as a meeting place between colleagues and partners, and of course for lunch every day. Flex desks are available on both the 1st and 2nd floors.
On the same floor, in the board room, the guests could watch a film about our farms in Africa. About our people who make it happen there. About how we work with the Hamuka culture and choose 'job ownership' and 'continuous improvement' every day. And how we are always looking for new opportunities, to serve the market even better.
2nd floor
And then the last, perhaps the busiest floor of all. This is where our quality is guaranteed: the 'Flower Lab'. Here, Quality Manager Werner van Sprang talked about the various tests they carry out there. For instance, we are now conducting a sea freight test to see if we can transport some of our products over water in the future. Standard vase life tests of the 'intensified checks' are also carried out here. Product Development Manager Bart Merkus was on hand to tell guests about the new products we are testing here. For example, there was a new addition to the Eryngium Questar® series in the lab: the Eryngium Titan Questar®. The team expects to be able to introduce it soon.
The 2nd floor also clearly shows that Marginpar is an international company. Special call rooms have been set up for digital meetings with colleagues in Africa. Crisp sightlines and curved walls form a unique whole and draw your gaze through the atrium towards the roof terrace. For summer meetings or a sunny lunch. Just in front of the rooftop terrace is the photo studio where the Marketing department creates content for social media.
Room to grow
We have invested in sustainable premises. This is reflected in the materials used, insulation, the cooling and heating system and environmental measures. With the solar panels being installed, we arrive at a nearly energy-neutral building.
The new head office is geared to our growth ambitions and attuned to the new way of working - at every link. Here in Aalsmeer-East, everything falls into place.
Of course, we could not answer all of our partners’ questions in that hour of looking around, but there was plenty of opportunity for that at the reception. We look back on a very successful afternoon with our partners.
Photo credits: Martijn van der Nat & Hakijk
Want to read more? Here's what others are saying about the building:
THURSD: “Visitors feel welcome in the open atmosphere that the building radiates. Flowers are on the tables everywhere, both as inspiration and for testing purposes. What a nice place to be!"
BPnieuws: “This building is 'the bridge between the grower in Africa and the florist and consumer anywhere in the world'."
BLOOMs: “Here you can immediately see that Marginpar is the world leader in growing unique summer flowers."
