Built in record time: School building with high-quality finishes

Burgland Bouw built a new school building in Rosmalen in record time for Rodenborch College: a merger of Jeroen Bosch College in Den Bosch and Rodenborch College in Rosmalen. The new school opened its doors for the first time this school year. "Among other things, the high-quality finish level makes it a special project."

Construction started in spring 2021 and the building was completed in July 2022. The school building covers a total of almost 17,000 m2 and consists of an education and sports section: 12,634 m² of education and 4,356 m² of sports. Project coordinator Arie Huigen of Burgland Bouw: "It was a substantial project, in which we worked with some seventy subcontractors and suppliers. At high times we had about a hundred people walking around the construction site, for example when there was overlap in the facade phase and the start of the finishing work. By building in phases and making tight schedules, we were able to deliver earlier than expected."

Streamlined construction process 

The educational part of the building consists of three wings of three floors with a central atrium in the middle. The work was done in a train: starting with the first floor of the first wing, then the first floor of the second and third wings and then continuing with the second floor of the first wing. Huigen: "The facade finishing and the finishing touches also ran in this train and that went very smoothly. The subcontractors were all parties we often work with, so they also knew exactly what had to be done when."

For the construction of the school building, many prefab elements were used, such as timber frame, prefab concrete columns, wide slab floors and the aluminum exterior facade. Because the school is located in the expansion area between Rosmalen and the new housing estate De Groote Wielen, there was sufficient space on and around the construction site for the storage of these components. In terms of sustainability, the school building meets the BENG standards (nearly energy-neutral building). Solar panels will be installed on the roof, heat recovery will take place and both heat and cold will be generated with energy-efficient heat pumps. 

Stringent requirements for gymnasium

The Rodenborch College is a so-called LOOT school, so there is a lot of focus on sports. One of the two new sports halls therefore meets the requirements of NOC*NSF for professional sports. "There, for example, the hardware on the doors was not allowed to stick out, because intensive sports are played there. There were also guidelines for scoreboards, lines and the height of the sports equipment. Then again, in the 'regular' sports hall there is a climbing wall for recreational use." The sports complex also included a sports canteen. The municipality also rents out the sports hall for such things as indoor soccer or other recreational use.  

Special project

Construction went very smoothly, Huigen believes. "You encounter challenges with every project, but the question is when and how you deal with them. Ideally, of course, you find out as early as possible. You can still make adjustments at the drawing board, but once an element is on construction, there's not much more you can do about it. So we prepared everything well and consulted with the finisher every two weeks, for example. If you keep looking ahead, you can still make adjustments. And that has a positive influence on the planning, the quality and the atmosphere at
the construction site." 

Huigen is proud of the project and pleased with the pleasant cooperation with both the school and superintendent Hevo and the subcontractors. "This is the largest school we have ever built. I find the high-quality level of finishing very special. The atrium is beautiful and the staff room is also very nice. What made it an even more special project for us is that we were also allowed to supply and install the permanent interior: from the staff kitchen to the distribution desk, lockers and display cases. The fine cooperation allowed us to build the school in record time in a
very good quality."