Schoonschip | 'Timber frame elements enable fast and efficient housing construction'

The waterfront homes of project Schoonschip in Amsterdam-Noord roughly consist of two parts: a concrete shell and a superstructure of timber frame elements. The lightweight wooden walls, storey floors, bay windows, roofs and dormers were drawn out in detail in advance, prefabricated and then transported to the construction site in manageable parts, where the house shells were quickly built up. Commissioned by Bouwbedrijf van Middendorp, Van der Kolk Gorinchem B.V. worked out the wood-frame structures for twelve waterfront homes. In addition, the company provided the parts lists, control files, working drawings and overview drawings, resulting in fast and smooth production and assembly.

"We also created survey drawings for the construction site, where the elements for the walls, story floors, bay windows, roofs and dormers were put together without any problems."

Construction of Schoonschip involves 48 families and several construction companies and consulting firms. Ten architects are responsible for the aesthetic design of the waterfront homes. "On the basis of these designs and in close cooperation with Bouwbedrijf van Middendorp, consulting and project management firm Dutch Lotus and constructor IBT BV, we created the production drawings for the waterfront homes," André van Heun and Erik Wolfs, both Draughtsman and Work Planner at Van der Kolk Gorinchem B.V., tell us. "We worked out the structures of the water homes in 3D, detailing all the elements down to the last screw. Certainly no sinecure, because the diversity of housing forms and finishes was enormous. Moreover, the residents had a lot of say, so we had to set up and work out each plot design separately."

Understanding parts, quantities and dimensions
The 3D models were shared with the various chain partners and residents. "Then a few more optimizations were made, to ensure a perfect fit of all the elements, secure an optimal design and enable proper and efficient production and assembly," Van Heun says. "After agreement, we generated the order lists/piece lists from all models, so that the carpentry factory had perfect insight into which parts, quantities and dimensions had to be ordered." Wolfs: "All items were delivered to the carpentry factory packaged, where the elements were assembled as a construction kit. In manageable elements and based on our working drawings. We also created overview drawings for the construction site, where the elements for the walls, storey floors, bay windows, roofs and dormers were assembled without any problems."

"We worked out the structures of the water homes in 3D, detailing all the elements down to the last screw."

Production Glasses
Schoonschip is the first project commissioned by Van der Kolk Gorinchem B.V. from Bouwbedrijf van Middendorp. "We joined when the plans became concrete," says Van Heun. "The basic designs were largely ready by then. However, we still made some adjustments in the detailing. Whereas architects often look at their buildings through aesthetic glasses, we focus on their manufacturability. Also in project Schoonschip this combination proved itself and led to attractive, high quality and efficiently built homes. We are extremely proud that we were able to make our contribution to this."