BOSS Management in the Built Environment | TU Delft

On the 20th of June, Tom Oskam graduated from the track Management in the Built Environment (MBE) at the ‘Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment’. His thesis, “Managing the real estate development paradox: developers’ management of the paradox between profitability and embodied carbon reduction“, was awarded an 8.5/10, and we would like to congratulate him on this achievement. He completed his thesis while performing an internship at NEOO. His thesis addresses the critical challenge of balancing profitability with embodied carbon reduction in the real estate sector. It explores how financial factors influence developers' decisions and provides practical frameworks to guide the industry towards environmentally friendly and profitable building projects. This research is crucial for reducing the carbon footprint of the construction industry while promoting sustainable development. Tom has been an active member of the BOSS community. He was the company relations of BOSS board 30. We would like to thank Tom for his active involvement and wish him all the best with the rest of her career.

On the 6th of June, a group of enthusiastic MBE students went on the last theme day of the year, together with developer Molsbergen Development BV and investor/developer IMP B.V.. During the day we learned more about what it takes to be a real estate developer and how you need all stakeholders to successfully complete a project. We started the theme day at Plesmanduin with a lovely lunch where both companies introduced themselves with a presentation, delivered in their own cinema. After the introductions, we continued with a tour through Plesmanduin, where we were treated with a fascinating history of the site and insights into their future plans. The tour also offered some stunning views of the surroundings. Following the tour, we enjoyed a pleasant walk in the good weather on our way to Ypsilon Park. Here, we participated in an engaging case study where groups competed against one another, learning more about different stakeholder perspectives and how to manage them effectively. The day ended with a wonderful borrel, offering yet another incredible view of The Hague’s city skyline. It was a perfect location to chat and reflect on the day’s learnings and new insights. A special thanks to Molsbergen Development BV and IMP B.V. for organising the event, and thank you to all participants for your active involvement! We hope to see you in the new year!

On the 28th of June, Maaike Creusen graduated from the track Management in the Built Environment (MBE) at the ‘Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment’. Her thesis, "Rebuilding Trust: Housing Associations in Groningen's Reinforcement Task", was awarded a 9, and we would like to congratulate her on this achievement. She completed her thesis while performing an internship at the Kr8-corporaties. Maaike's thesis focused on identifying strategies that housing associations could employ to address both immaterial and immaterial damage and enhance liveability in the earthquake-affected region of Groningen. Her research findings reveal that while housing associations have a lot of possibilities, the answer to her main question is not so much a substantive list of strategies as it is the delineation of a process through which they can discern the most appropriate strategies to employ. Maaike's thesis argues that enhancing liveability demands the adaptation of an area-based approach and collaborative efforts. The contribution of her research lies in the provision of a step-by-step guide to area-based working. While rooted in experiences from the reinforcement task, it is believed applicable in other contexts - Dutch or international - where liveability enhancement is required. Beyond housing associations, other entities involved in large-scale neighbourhood improvement efforts could also benefit from the guide. Her complete thesis can be viewed via this link: https://lnkd.in/eM9Ar_pG Maaike pursued a double master's degree, also earning an MA in Heritage Studies from the VU. From July 1st, she will start her role as a policy officer at the Province of Groningen, focusing on the preservation of heritage in the earthquake-affected area. She has been an active member of the BOSS community. She was part of the BOSS board 29 and organized in this year the study trip together with her committee. As BOSS 31 we would like to thank Maaike for her active involvement and wish her good luck with the start of her career!

On the 18th of June, Tim Fierens graduated from the track Management in the Built Environment (MBE) at the ‘Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment’. His thesis, “Bridging the fit-out gap: exploring the relationship between tenants and landlords to enable circular practices in office buildings” was awarded an 8, and we would like to congratulate him on this achievement. He completed his thesis while performing an internship at Colliers. Tim studied the practice of making office fit-outs and how the tenant-landlord relationship can facilitate the transition from traditional to circular fit-outs in office buildings. His research explores ways to overcome and leverage the substantial challenges and opportunities associated with implementing circular practices. The outcome of his research provides specific recommendations for tenants, landlords, and fit-out consultants to promote circularity in office fit-outs. These recommendations include for example adapting certain lease agreement clauses and guidelines, developing promoting business strategies but also rethinking how companies express their brand identity through office design. By addressing these key factors and creating mutual understanding, the tenant-landlord relationship can successfully push the transition to circular fit-outs, contributing to long-term environmental benefits. His complete thesis can be viewed via this link:  https://lnkd.in/ezWwGckV Tim has been an active member of the BOSS community. He was part of the Publications committee in the past two years. He made the yearbook in his first year and in his second year he launched our new website! We would like to thank Tim for his active involvement and wish him all the best during his first job and of course the rest of his career!

On the 19th of June, Feike Jansen graduated from the track Management in the Built Environment (MBE) at the ‘Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment’. Her thesis, "From urban experimentation to management transformation: Applying urban living lab findings to challenge business-as-usual management practices", was awarded an 8.5, and we would like to congratulate her on this achievement. She completed her thesis while performing an internship at Fakton. Feike developed an inner-organizational transformation strategy to change business-as-usual management practices in experimental urban area developments. This strategy contains actions and approaches from both an individual and organizational perspective to work towards sustainable solutions in area developments. Her research focuses on how we learn from experimental projects and transfer those lessons to a larger scale enhancing transformation of the business-as-usual way of working. As a result, the importance of the learning intent versus the capacity to change comes forward. With a high capacity to change, the opportunity to learn and transform as an organization significantly increases. Her complete thesis can be viewed via this link: https://lnkd.in/ei2aktxu Feike has been an active member of the BOSS community. She was part of the Activities Committee after which she became the head of the RECD of BOSS board 29. In her last year at MBE, she was part of the 6th Lustrum Committee of BOSS. We would like to thank Feike for her active involvement and wish her all the best with the rest of her career!

On the 19th of June, Sanjana Maria John graduated from the track Management in the Built Environment (MBE) at the ‘Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment’. Her thesis, “Reconfiguring workspace configurations for a sustainable future- Understanding the links between new working trends and the sustainability of workspaces in a post pandemic reality“, was awarded an 9, and we would like to congratulate her on this achievement. Sanjana studied the impacts of hybrid working processes on the energy consumption of the workspace environment and provided a solution spectrum for real estate professionals and business owners at four different scales. Her research endeavours to develop an understanding of how hybrid working processes affects the energy of the workspace environment using a system mapping that identified the interdependencies between the functional, physical, financial and organisational perspectives areas of such work processes. The combination of the system mapping and the solution spectrum aims to support an improved management of building assets based on current working trends to create an inclusive, sustainable and future proof urban system. Her complete thesis can be viewed via this link: https://lnkd.in/eukYjcuc  Sanjana has been an active member of the BOSS community. In her first year, she was part of the Study Trip committee. We would like to thank Sanjana for her active involvement and wish her all the best for the rest of her career!

Last week we organized the final lunch lecture of this academic year. It was hosted by Stevens Van Dijck, who gave a very interesting presentation about building information management. They elaborated on how to deal with risk and uncertainty in construction projects and what the benefits are of information collaboration. The lecture was well tailored to the BIM course that some of the students are currently following. We want to thank Eelco Braakman and Jorrit Van Beurden for hosting this lunch lecture and thanks to the students for joining!

On Friday May 17th, the first Studytrip Business Tour took place! This day we visited two companies. We kicked off at the TU Delft Campus where Van der Bouw gave us a warm welcome. First, they gave an interesting presentation about Van der Bouw’s vision and their aims on topping up buildings through a quick scan. The province of South-Holland also gave a presentation about their housing development task. We were given a case and finished the morning with a great lunch.    Afterwards, we headed over to the World Trade Center in Utrecht to visit Synchroon. They gave us an insight into their company and the area development Wisselspoor with a presentation. After the presentation we went by train to visit the area Wisselspoor. We got an interesting tour through the area and we ended the day at the PingPong club with some lovely drinks and a pubquiz, where questions were asked about everything that was told that afternoon. Thank you again Van der Bouw and Synchroon for your new insights into you companies and for organising this event. And also a big thanks to all the participants for your active involvement! We are looking forward to the next event and hope to see you all there!

Last week, Count&Cooper hosted the third lunch lecture of the academic year.  The lecture started with an introduction of the company, explaining their vision of integrated project delivery of large infrastructure projects. They also gave some examples of projects they are working on, like the repair of the quay walls in Amsterdam and the redesign of the A9 highway. It was a very interesting lecture and we would like to thank Martijn Smits and Christopher Kurth for hosting it!

On the 17th of April, Carlota Rubio Agullo graduated from the track Management in the Built Environment (MBE) at the ‘Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment’. Her thesis, “Navigating the Heat Transition: Effective Stakeholder Decision-Making in Dutch Low-Carbon Heating Projects“, was awarded a 9, and we would like to congratulate her on this achievement. Carlota Rubio Agullo developed a collective decision-making framework for enhancing stakeholder decision-making processes outlining which stakeholders should be involved during barrier/stakeholder intensive moments. Her research aims to identify primary barriers of project success within the decision-making process and outline strategies for overcoming them to highlight the significance of coordinated action among diverse stakeholders for achieving heat transition goals. As a result, collective decision-making can be orchestrated in low-carbon heating grid projects in mixed-use neighbourhoods to overcome the experienced barriers. Her complete thesis can be viewed via this link: https://lnkd.in/ezxaBJ9G Carlota was an active member of the BOSS community. She was a member of the Publication committee and the year after of the Activities committee. As BOSS 31, we would like to thank Carlota for her active involvement and wish her good luck with the start of her career!