Platform on new construction, renovation, restoration and transformation
Eleven months after an all-destructive fire, a new Karwei stands again in the Apeldoorn district of Zuidbroek. Despite the bad weather, the builders managed to realize a new hall on the foundation of the old hardware store in twelve weeks. With a slightly smaller Karwei branch.
On Nov. 27, 2018, the 7,000-square-meter DIY store on the Avenue of the Zodiac was completely destroyed by fire. A construction team led by SQ Bouw built a brand new structure on the existing foundation in record time. It is exactly the same size as the old Karwei, a requirement of the insurer. But because Karwei owner Bricorama wanted a slightly smaller hardware store, only 5,200 sq. m. is earmarked for the Karwei itself and the rest is rented to third parties.
Sander van de Blankevoort, owner of SQ Construction and project manager for the new building, knows that the site was fallow for a very long time after the devastated old building was cleared. “We were commissioned to build a new building on Oct. 7, with the announcement that the official opening was scheduled for Feb. 18. Consider that the Karwei itself takes eight weeks to furnish, then you realize that this is a very short construction time,” he says. “The only advantage was that the foundation was mostly already there. We had to repair some minor damage from the fire and made a new foundation for the entrance to the hardware store, which was put out a bit. And a new foundation was made for the fire wall.”
The new building was completed in a very short time.
For the building itself, a steel structure was erected with sandwich panels and sheet piling for the facades and steel plates with insulation for the roof. The entrance to the Karwei consists of a cantilevered steel structure with curtain walls. One difference from the old building is that there are now three fire compartments. Van de Blankevoort: “The Karwei and the rentable area are separate steel structures with an aerated concrete compartmentation wall between them that is 120 minutes fire resistant. Around the accommodation areas of the Karwei is also a compartment made of aerated concrete; this is 60 minutes fire resistant. In it are the changing rooms and toilets on the first floor and offices plus canteen upstairs.”
The extremely short construction time is an achievement of note. Van de Blankevoort: “We pulled out all the stops to meet the deadline and we succeeded. We started construction on October 7, and despite the appallingly bad weather in November and December, the hall was completed before Christmas. There are projects where you start work on good faith and take risks. We had that trust with all parties involved. In addition, it is a matter of a lot of consultation, tightening up the planning every week and maintaining very short lines of communication with the client, architect, consultants subcontractors and ancillary contractors.”
For example, the consultations revealed that pouring the floors in three phases would save time. “While two-thirds of the roof was not yet watertight, we started pouring the first floor phase. This meant that it was up to strength earlier, so that the installer could get in earlier with an aerial platform. And so more work was cleverly combined. Everyone had a positive, practical approach and the atmosphere throughout the construction was very pleasant. Otherwise it would not have succeeded.”
