The riverfront: Six apartment buildings near Rotterdam

The first of the six apartment buildings on De Kade in Maassluis has been completed. When soon all the buildings are completed, they will together show a beautiful, ascending line in the direction of De Key and Kramerkade. The different facade cladding creates a varied image that gives Maassluis a new face.

De Kade in Maassluis will be built in phases over the next few years. The complete project consists of six "residential loops," with a panoramic building at the head of each loop with luxury apartments and a panoramic view of the river. Gebroeders Blokland will realize the first two apartment buildings, Boonersluys and Sluyse Diep, with 28 apartments each. The apartments are being built sustainably and are all-electric. Wells have been drilled under the semi-underground parking garage, which are linked to individual heat pumps.

Concrete Casco

The houses of Boonersluys are built in a concrete hull. Gebroeders Blokland outsourced the manufacture of the hull to a specialized hull builder. "A concrete hull combines great stability with high construction speed," says Marcel de Goede, work planner at Gebroeders Blokland. "In Boonersluys, wooden formwork was used. For an extra sleek look, in Sluyse Diep steel formwork is being used."

Oblique hoods

Boonersluys' angled hoods are striking. The prefab wooden hoods are covered with aluminum sheet with a zinc look, a modern material that offers significant advantages over real zinc. "The material is light and easy to work with," says De Goede. "Where this material is applied, no ventilation is needed and the price is lower than that of real zinc."

Anthracite concrete

For Sluyse Diep, the balconies are made of anthracite precast concrete. The anthracite color matches the black lines in the cladding and creates a modern, sleek look. To prevent damage, Gebroeders Blokland had to handle the concrete elements carefully and remove the protective packaging only at the very last moment.

Meanwhile, Gebroeders Blokland completed Boonersluys and the outlines of the second apartment building are already becoming visible. De Goede already foresees that the challenges here lie on a different plane. "At Boonersluys, the dimensions of the plot were still ample for setting up a construction site and storing building materials. At Sluyse Diep, things are getting tighter and we will have to switch more often to just-in-time deliveries. Concrete and brick will also be combined here. To accommodate the difference in expansion coefficient, it will be necessary to work with reinforcement strips in the horizontal joints and vertical expansion joints. What is certain is that the two residential buildings will soon form a beautiful whole."