Another Toucan to show off a stunning new nest

As ever, Van der Valk continues to invest in new hotels, setting the bar high when it comes to quality and appearance. In Best near Eindhoven, the youngest member of the Van der Valk Hotels is currently being built, with an appealing architecture. The design was created by P.A.M. Teunissen Architectenburo BV. Facédo of Velp is supplying the curtain walls and window frames/sliding doors. An interview with project manager Bram Leijser and (old hand in the trade) Ben Slebus, executor on this project.

A crowning achievement

"This work includes 4,500 m2 of curtain wall and about 400 pieces of window frames, which consist mainly of sliding doors because of the many balconies and French balconies," Leijser opens the conversation. "All the profiles we use for this come from Schüco. A special detail is formed by the way the Skybar on the twelfth floor is designed. There, there are curtain walls with daylight all around, so that you can not only enjoy the panorama all around, but also the sky above you. In total, we are talking about approximately 350 m2 of daylight. Of the 4,500 m2 of curtain wall, about 1,000 m2 is on the roof, for the purpose of the Skybar. It is literally and figuratively a crowning glory."

'We provide the whole custom suit'

Slebus sees the facade work made by Facédo for the prestigious hotel as a nice jacket for the building. "We supply the whole bespoke suit," he outlines. "The facade parts are formed by Schüco FW60SI elements, the sliding parts are Schüco ASE80LC frames. The frames go up including set frames and glazing, the intermediate strips are insulated and fitted with cold/heat parts. Thus Facédo provides the complete thermal shell, including air seals and the cold/warm façade." Leijser adds, "The doors in the restaurants are made with Schüco ADS75SI profile and the windows with Schüco AWS SI profile."

Six meters of frame through the air

One of the big challenges was hoisting the window frames. A job you can safely leave to Slebus with his years of experience: "There were window frames of 6 meters to be hoisted through the air, behind the contractor's scaffolding and in coordination with the contractor, because of the construction cranes. With bad weather and wind, it's quite a challenge to hoist in such a tight space."

BREEAM project

Leijser concludes, "Because Eindhoven Airport is a stone's throw away, sound-insulating triple glazing with RW46 was chosen. Also, the glass is highly solar control, with a ZTA of 24%. This is a BREEAM certified project, we guarantee that all aluminum and glass parts are Cradle-to-Cradle certified." Work started at the beginning of this year and is scheduled to approach completion in March 2022.