Building tomorrow’s logistics, one campus at a time: Karel Rengelink’s five years at WDP
Karel Rengelink joined WDP five years ago, right in the middle of the COVID period. Since then he’s been helping build sustainable logistics locations with lasting value. From the Scania Campus in Zwolle to new brownfield redevelopments, for Karel, the strength of a good project comes down to collaboration, entrepreneurship and the room to take initiative. Time to look back, and ahead, on five years at WDP.
When I joined WDP 5 years ago
When I started at WDP five years ago, the Netherlands was right in the middle of the COVID period. I literally started between two lockdowns. Not ideal circumstances to get to know a new organisation and new colleagues, a lot of contact happened digitally, and spontaneous encounters were the exception rather than the rule.
Still, I felt at home quickly. What appealed to me from the start was WDP’s entrepreneurial character. The lines are short, we can move fast, and you get the room to take initiative yourself. I landed in a team with a lot of knowledge and experience, but at the same time a very practical, hands-on mentality.
What perhaps surprised me the most was how much trust I was given right from the start. Despite all the working from home, I was quickly involved in projects and decisions. That meant I didn’t feel like I had to stand on the sidelines for long, I could get straight to work. And that’s exactly what I’d been looking forward to: delivering beautiful logistics real estate projects, and being able to genuinely make a difference for our clients.
What WDP means for me today
Today, WDP means the chance to help build sustainable logistics solutions. My focus is on project development and brownfield redevelopments, where we always try to create value for both our clients and the surrounding area.
I’ve learned a lot over the past five years. Above all, how important it is to bring different disciplines together from the very start. A good project never comes from a single expertise or a single person. It’s the result of people, each working from their own knowledge, toward the same goal. That’s also what makes my work so varied. One day I’m at the table with a municipality, the next with a selling party, a potential tenant, an advisor or a contractor. No two days are the same, and that broad playing field is exactly what keeps me engaged.
I recognise that same collaboration strongly within #TeamWDP too. We combine knowledge with entrepreneurship, and we’re always ready to help each other reach a good result. And that involvement doesn’t stop the moment the working day ends, you notice it just as much during a running event, or at one of our other WDP events.
What I find beautiful about our field is that the result of our work doesn’t just disappear.
How I see WDP in the future
In the coming years, I hope we keep investing in sustainability, brownfield redevelopments and locations that are ready for tomorrow’s logistics. At the same time, I hope we keep growing as an organisation without losing our entrepreneurial mentality. That we keep setting the bar high, while still making room for new talent, new ideas and fresh insight. It’s exactly that combination of experience and renewal that makes us stronger, I think.
What I find beautiful about our field is that the result of our work doesn’t just disappear. Together with clients, colleagues and partners, we create places that stay part of their surroundings for years to come.
The project I’ll never forget
A project I won’t forget any time soon is the development of the Scania Campus in Zwolle. What started with drawing up an area vision, together with the municipality, grew into the first phase of a sustainable, future-proof campus. It’s a project where, for me, everything came together that makes project development interesting: Scania’s requirements, sustainability, permits, and the entrepreneurship it takes to turn a good idea into an actual building.
My role was to bring the different parties together, and to guide the whole process from initiative to realisation, from the land purchase and contracting a tenant, through to the final delivery of the building.
What makes this project special for me is that it shows what you can achieve when a client, a municipality and a developer pull in the same direction from the very start. Project development, to me, is about a lot more than just putting up a building. You’re creating a place that has to function well today, but also keep delivering value in the long term. The first phase is now standing, and hopefully we’ll soon be able to follow it up with a nice second phase.