What role can architecture play in online shopping? With the rise of online shops, the focus for retailers is shifting from having an attractive shop in a strategic location to having an appealing website that, above all, offers functionality and good customer service. As an alternative, we are seeing huge parks of distribution centres springing up, particularly abroad.

In Germany, there are currently four warehouses belonging to the clothing retailer Zalando, covering a total floor area of 405,000 m². For the time being, the shoe retailer Torfs, which has a 4,000 m² warehouse in Temse on the Zaat, appears to be the only fashion brand in Belgium venturing into the construction of a distribution centre. The reasons for this scarcity are the less favourable labour costs compared with neighbouring countries – with evening hours proving even more expensive – and the law that makes it impossible for e-commerce workers to be employed at night. Delivering from abroad offers both a financial advantage and shorter delivery times.