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They cannot be missed on Amsterdam's TT Vasumweg: the three imposing residential towers that collectively form 'Het Dok'. The precast elements for this striking project come from Best in Brabant: Bestcon produced the elements on behalf of Van Wijnen Amsterdam. An interview with Project Office Manager Jeroen van Helvoirt, who was involved in both the preparatory phase and completion of this project.
"For Bestcon, this was a more than unique project," Van Helvoirt kicks off the conversation. "For us, the Dok is a textbook example of the power of prefabricated high-rise buildings. The uniqueness of the Bestcon60 system (the decoupling between the structure and the installations, ed.) guarantees enormously fast construction and assembly times. It is an open door to say that this is very attractive for the contractor."
Van Helvoirt explains that the chosen construction method is at base more expensive than traditional construction. "But when you make a fair comparison on site costs, you can only come to the conclusion that prefab is more advantageous. Good cooperation and communication with the client is crucial. The project (where sandwich elements from Hibex were also chosen) was built completely without scaffolding. As a client, you have to dare to do that. But we expressed our trust in and to each other from the very first moment. As a precast manufacturer, we were at the table early on. We were able to contribute ideas and put forward the best solutions with an open mind. Mutual trust in each other's expertise is indispensable. The Dok was delivered after a lightning-fast assembly period during which we worked with two assembly teams from our assembly partner Gejamont. A new floor on each tower every week; you could see the building shoot out of the ground."
The Dock had many challenges, including its striking design. Van Helvoirt cites the cantilevered facades/shifts as an example. "The towers have their distinctive appearance because of the staggered elevations of about one and a half meters. That meant a challenge for us with the floor span of more than nine meters. We managed to solve that by building a temporary structure from the inside of the building. This allowed us to support the elements. In the architectural image of the towers, the shifts are also clearly visible through the rotation of the facades' tessellations as well as the colors of the bricks used."
The location itself also caused some headaches. "But we got out of this too," Van Helvoirt explains. "We had to avoid the congestion of the A2 supply route. The advantage of prefab is in the speed, then delays due to heavy traffic are out of the question. Van Wijnen arranged a 'hub' near the construction site where we could store our elements. This hub worked fantastic and we will take it as an idea for future projects!
Van Helvoirt looks back on an intensive project. "For Bestcon, it was an impressive but instructive process in which we kept getting confirmation that we are doing what we are good at and are getting better at it." For the future, he foresees many more such projects. "We are facing a huge housing shortage in our country. In addition, we see that 'hands on construction' are scarce and building sites are harder to come by. Without wishing to come across as 'we from WC-Eend recommend WC-Eend', I would venture to say that high-rise construction is the future and prefabrication is the solution. Scaffoldless construction is the ultimate step we can take. We certainly cannot solve the great national problem of the housing shortage in one, two, three days, but with prefabricated high-rise buildings we are definitely taking a step in the right direction!'
Van Helvoirt bases the fact that several clients feel the same way on the contracts already in Bestcon's portfolio: "I would mention the Grote Beer Alexandrium; a residential tower with some 193 apartments. Or Hof 36 in Leiden, where a high-rise complex is rising with some 440 homes. We thought we had built the largest with Het Dok on TT Vasumweg, but these two are already bigger again." When asked if Bestcon can go higher than 70 meters with precast, he responds with a smile. "We are investigating that, tests are being done at the TU in Eindhoven." And then with a wink, "Because did I mention that high-rise buildings are the future and precast is the solution?"
