About me: programme manager, building engineer, digitaliser
I am Gijs Derks, founder of Triangular. I lead programmes and projects in construction, with innovation, digitalisation and change as the common thread. I am a building engineer at heart and trained in business management. Throughout my career I have worked where three worlds meet: how you build, how you record information about it, and what that means for people, the environment and the wallet. Hence the name: Triangular.
By now I have 25 years of experience in construction, including 15 years in BIM and digitalisation. Circularity is my subject specialism: 7.5 years, including 5 years as a registered BCI expert.
From drawing board to programme management
Each step has the colour of its discipline: building engineering digital circular
- 2001
Start in construction
The start of 25 years in construction.
- 2002–2009
Education
Vocational degree in Building Engineering (ROC Nijmegen) and a bachelor's in Construction Business Management (Avans University of Applied Sciences). During my internship I first drew with pencil and ink, and only then digitally. I still take that basic principle everywhere.
- 2009–2011
De Woningstichting Wageningen
Real estate trainee and project officer at the board secretariat. Analysis of around 5,000 homes.
- 2011–2015
Hendriks Bouw en Ontwikkeling
The start of 15 years of BIM and digitalisation. Information manager, responsible for IT and the implementation of BIM. Model checks and rulesets for the supply chain.
- 2015–2017
MVRO
Process coordinator. BIM in retail (including for Albert Heijn) and final logistics responsibility for delivering ten Hudson's Bay stores.
- 2017–2019
DigiBase (VolkerWessels)
Process manager business development: apps and tools around BIM and integrations in the digital construction chain. Through Madaster I got hooked on sustainability here.
- 2019–2022
Van Wijnen
Manager innovation South region at Van Wijnen Zuid. Coordinated the regional BIM managers and rolled out Solibri with a training programme. Working on BCI assessments since 2021. Standard cards for circular materials and Project Milestone (4 3D concrete-printed homes).
- 2023–now
Triangular
Independent adviser and programme manager. Clients include BCI Gebouw (helped think through a new BCI environment), VolkerWessels/DigiBase (CSRD data), Van Wijnen (Project Milestone and standard cards for circular materials), OMDUS (the innovation process) and BNE Vastgoed (circular advice). I also design and guide extensions and renovations for private clients.
- 2024–now
Cirkelstad
Manager Programmes and Projects at Coöperatie Cirkelstad. Alongside this, interim programme lead of Toekomstbestendig Bouwen (Nov 2025 – Jul 2026). Now mainly digitalisation and data-driven circularity. I scaled up the residual value method with a dedicated expert training.
- 2024–now
TOT2050
Founder. Registered BCI expert. BCI, MPG and CO₂ assessments, training and tender support, for contractors, developers and housing associations.
Leadership: sitting down next to people
I don't believe in a final report that nobody reads. People change the way they work when you sit down next to them, take work off their hands and make the first project a success together. That is also how I work as a manager:
- At Van Wijnen I coordinated the regional BIM managers as manager innovation South region. I rolled out Solibri with my own training programme.
- At OMDUS I set up the innovation process and its tools, and structured the information flows of Fixzed.
- In projects I bring contractor, consultant, supplier and client together at the table, as with the 126 storage units at De Amazones. The architect, purchasing, the block layer and the frame fitters all took part.
Stories, numbers and a solid form
I like telling stories. With me, a good idea often starts as a vista that is just out of reach. Then I do the actual work: substantiating it layer by layer with numbers, partners and a plan. Until there is a business case that stands up without me.
I do that down to earth. I don't have a monopoly on wisdom, and what I know today may be different in three years. That is why I work for several clients at the same time: contractors, housing associations, consultancies, public bodies and knowledge platforms. That keeps me sharp and prevents tunnel vision.
In short
- Education
- Bachelor's in Construction Business Management (Avans University of Applied Sciences), vocational degree in Building Engineering (ROC Nijmegen)
- Recognition
- Registered BCI expert with BCI Gebouw
- Methods
- BCI Gebouw
- MPG/MKI (NMD)
- Whole Life Carbon
- ISO 19650
- Software
- Solibri
- Revit
- SketchUp Pro
- Trimble Connect
- Autodesk Construction Cloud
- VABI EPA
- Power Apps and Power BI
- Python
- Languages
- Dutch (native), English (good), German (reading and listening)
- Publication
- “Van compenseren naar beter isoleren” (From offsetting to better insulation), SPARK Campus and De Bouwcampus (2025)
Outside work
I live with my family in the Nijmegen region, in an all-electric house from 1980, and I drive electric. Tinkering with that house myself, literally and digitally, is my way of learning. I do Hyrox to stay fit.