Installing in a complex building

Complete mechanical engineering installation

ImPro Techniek took care of the complete mechanical installation for the sustainability project at social and cultural meeting center Podium Oost in Utrecht. A challenging project because it concerns a complex building, also in the context of circularity and reuse.

ImPro Technology provided various work in the meeting center, which spans two floors and houses a large performance hall, several user spaces and small offices.  

Total Installation

The old gas-fired boilers were removed and replaced with heat pumps. A new technical room was also realized. ImPro Techniek also delivered a complete air handling unit with measuring and control installation and decentralized heat recovery units. In addition, the company realized the drainage and water for the kitchen and delivered and installed new plumbing. "The nice thing about this project was that we were responsible for the total installation and not just one part," says Bastiaan van der Mooren, project manager of the work and owner of ImPro Techniek. "We do often work together with main contractor Vios Bouw and therefore jointly tendered for this assignment. We like the cooperation from both sides very much, we are already working on new tenders. We also made this a beautiful project together in good consultation." 

'Don't just replace everything'

For ImPro Techniek, it was a medium-sized project. Work started in February 2023 and was completed in the summer. Including subcontractors, four to eight people from ImPro Techniek were continuously walking on the construction site. During the renovation, sustainability was carefully considered. Van der Mooren: "The heating was replaced by heat pumps, but we repainted and reused parts of the piping and radiators. So getting rid of the gas, but not just replacing everything."

Just-in-time

The crawl space work presented the biggest challenges. "This work is always tough and Podium Oost is a pretty complex building. You have to look very carefully at where you can go with pipes and air ducts. Here good communication with the other parties was very important. In addition, the building is in the middle of a residential area, so you have to take noise pollution into account and how you place certain installations. There is actually no construction site and no parking lot. Therefore, a small shack was created during construction and we had to deliver all parts just-in-time. In consultation with the construction contractor, this went smoothly. We have a fine cooperation and we are grateful for that," said Van der Mooren.