Benches from Brussels North Station
When Rotordc is contacted for the salvage of materials, our opinion on the pertinence of these operations is usually not relevant. We either take charge of the careful dismantling of materials, or watch others destroy them. If Rotordc would not have been contacted by the general contractor to demount the benches of Gare Du Nord, most likely they would have been chopped in small sections for easier evacuation. They would have been destroyed. Carrying 4 meter long heavy bench parts trough the vast North Station is not something you'd do for fun.
We take pride in being capable of quickly finding new destinations for discarded materials, so as to keep their cost to a minimum. The benches sold out in less than 24h. This leads to something of a conundrum. We want to support the call to return these benches to the North Station, but they are no longer ours.
We have none the less decided to suspend all deliveries of benches to wait for the outcome of the public debate. We are willing to contact the dozens of clients that acquired a bench and negotiate with them the return of the benches to their initial location at proper compensation. We have provided the SNCB with an estimate of the cost of such an operation for their consideration and are waiting for their answer.
We would like to point out that roughly 40% of the benches are still in North Station and can easily be kept in place at close to zero additional cost. Another 30% or so is in our storage, and provided we can convince our clients to collaborate, these would not be very hard to return. The rest has already been picked up or delivered and would require a more important transport budget.
We thank all citizens and organisations that have spoken out against this operation, we see you as allies in the transition to a proper and thoughtful management of the built environement.
