Complete precast concrete shell from Apeldoorn

On a 2.2 hectare site at the Nieuw Reijerwaard industrial estate in Ridderkerk, the new building of logistics service provider AFL Barendrecht is rising. The building has a concrete support structure produced entirely in Preco's modern factory in Apeldoorn and assembled in just 45 working days. A daring feat.

The new logistics center is 250 meters long and 48 meters wide. It will soon house a total of seventeen cold stores, two freezer cells, a repacking department and 400 m2 of office space over two floors. "We engineered, manufactured and delivered all precast concrete structures for the new building," says Stefan Jongewaard, project manager at Preco. That ranges from 153 columns to 96 beams and three stairwells including stairs and landings. However, the vast majority comprises the 508 wall elements, of which 3,600 m2 are designed as fire walls with a requirement of 90 minutes of fire resistance." 

Tight engineering

In addition, Preco also supplied sixteen loading docks surrounded by loading houses made of precast concrete and another 5,500 m2 of hollow-core slabs. "Special attention included a number of beams and walls that had to run with the slope of the roof and thirteen pieces of beams weighing as much as 36 tons." The biggest challenge, according to Jongewaard, was in the lead time. "We had weekly meetings with the engineering party and our client Hercuton to discuss engineering progress and address outstanding issues. We did a lot of fine-tuning together to make the process as streamlined as possible for all parties. This may have taken more time in the preliminary stages, but it benefits the turnaround time. For example, a number of crucial components were brought forward in the engineering process so that we could produce these elements earlier. Only 45 working days are planned for the assembly of the complete concrete shell. That really is mega-fast."

The new building is scheduled for completion on August 1, 2024 and meets BREEAM "Excellent" requirements.