Key takeaways
- Sablones Business Center at Kaldenkerkerweg 20 in Venlo has been audited according to the IT-Label methodology and achieves the IT1 HIGH PERFORMANCE classification.
- The classification indicates that a strong digital infrastructure is in place and that a user mainly still carries out company-specific optimizations.
- The audit was carried out on behalf of RE-SEARCH.COM, which conducts location research for commercial real estate.
- The IT-label is not a legal quality mark, but a classification methodology that makes digital quality transparent.
- Sablones illustrates a broader shift: alongside location, floor area and energy label, digital capacity is becoming part of the housing question.
The search for an office has run along fixed lines for years. Business owners look at the location, the number of square meters, the number of workstations, accessibility, parking options, rental price and the energy label. These are the criteria on which a building is typically assessed and compared to others.
Digitalization, cloud usage and the rise of AI add a question to that list that is carrying increasing weight: what can an office handle digitally? That question is central to the IT-Label methodology, which translates the digital delivery level of a building into an understandable classification.
At Kaldenkerkerweg 20 in Venlo, that question has now been answered concretely. Sablones Business Center has been assessed according to the IT-Label methodology and achieves the IT1 HIGH PERFORMANCE classification.
Sablones officially audited
The audit maps out which digital infrastructure is present in the building and at what level a user can make use of it. The result is expressed in one of the label categories, ranging from IT5 SHELL to IT1+ PREMIUM. Sablones comes out at IT1 HIGH PERFORMANCE.
IT1 HIGH PERFORMANCE stands for a high-quality digital delivery level. A strong digital infrastructure is present, which means a user, depending on their own specific IT requirements, mainly still needs to carry out company-specific optimizations. What one organization considers sufficient may, for another, be reason for additional setup. The classification from PREMIUM to SHELL describes these levels in relation to one another.
An important note here: the IT-label does not guarantee that every individual IT or AI application will run without issue. The user's own requirements always remain decisive. The label makes visible the digital baseline from which an organization can build further.
Why this matters for business owners
A business owner does not ultimately rent square meters just to own square meters. They rent an environment in which their organization needs to be able to function. And that business operation is becoming increasingly digital.
Think of cloud software, videoconferencing, processing large data files, cybersecurity, digital collaboration, automation and AI applications. All these processes depend on the connectivity and infrastructure of the workplace. As a result, the digital quality of an office is becoming an increasingly important part of the location decision, something that long was missing from the rental brochure.
The question is no longer just how many square meters an organization needs, but increasingly what those square meters can digitally facilitate.
Transparency before the lease agreement
Digital infrastructure is often barely visible to a tenant during a viewing. What stands out is the entrance, the office space, the view, the parking spaces and the meeting rooms. Matters such as connectivity, data cabling, redundancy and technical infrastructure largely remain out of sight.
It is precisely this invisible layer that IT-Label aims to translate into a simple, understandable digital delivery level. The idea is that a tenant knows what they will be digitally provided with before signing, rather than discovering during fit-out which additional investments are needed.
For tenants who want to know what to pay attention to, the knowledge base offers an overview of points of attention when renting. This makes it possible to compare buildings on a digital level.
Curious about your building's IT-label?
Discover how your property scores on digital infrastructure.
Request IT-labelFrom technical IT to real estate language
IT-Label does not aim to add an extra layer of complex technical reporting to a market that already has plenty of documentation. The goal is the translation: from the IT specialist to the property owner, from the broker to the user.
Technology may be complex, but the conclusion should remain understandable. A landlord must be able to communicate what they offer, a broker must be able to explain it, a tenant must be able to compare it, and an IT specialist must be able to see what baseline can be built upon. This is how, as described earlier, one language for digital building quality emerges.
RE-SEARCH as commissioning party
The Sablones audit was carried out on behalf of RE-SEARCH.COM. This fits within RE-SEARCH's broader vision on location research for commercial real estate. When searching for a suitable location, the question is not only whether a building meets an organization's needs today, but also whether it can adapt to future business operations.
The division of roles is therefore clear. RE-SEARCH researches where a business can best operate. IT-Label helps make visible what that location can facilitate digitally. The current listings and more information about the location can be found via www.re-search.com.
A new distinguishing factor for landlords
The Sablones classification shows that digital infrastructure does not have to remain purely a technical subject. It can become part of a building's positioning. Alongside location, sustainability, architecture, amenities and hospitality, an owner can now also provide insight into the digital quality of their property.
This raises an interesting question: can digital transparency become a new distinguishing factor in the letting of commercial real estate? For property owners who want to explore this question further, the page on the value of your property offers starting points.
AI makes that question more urgent
Organizations are becoming increasingly dependent on the combination of data, cloud, connectivity, cybersecurity and AI. This makes workplace infrastructure more relevant than ever. AI may take place in the cloud, but its use ultimately begins at a workplace. Commercial real estate will therefore need to keep pace with the digital development of its users.
Curious about your building's IT-label?
Discover how your property scores on digital infrastructure.
Request IT-labelVenlo as a practical example
Venlo is known as a logistics and economic region. Modern economic growth, however, is increasingly digital in nature. This makes it interesting that an office location in Venlo, of all places, wants to offer transparency about its digital delivery level.
That does not mean the city has suddenly become an AI hub. Sablones is above all a practical example of how an existing office location can anticipate changing user demands, and how it makes that choice measurable and visible.
Making the digital baseline transparent yourself
Today, the market asks the familiar questions: where is the building located, how many square meters are available, what does it cost and what energy label does it have? According to IT-Label, a new question is now being added to that list: what can the building handle digitally? Sablones now makes that quality explicitly transparent with the IT1 HIGH PERFORMANCE classification.
Property owners who want to know what an audit means for their building can learn about how the IT-label works, or view the available property listings and housing options via www.re-search.com. For tomorrow's business owner, not only the location of an office will matter, but also its digital capacity. IT-Label makes visible what is currently invisible.
