The details of the ornate brickwork make New Kralingen

Nieuw Kralingen will be a green Rotterdam neighborhood with a diversity of quality homes. The homes owe their romantic character in part to the masonry of Brabotech Metselwerken.

"We provide the masonry for the entire project," says John Poppelaars of Brabotech. "It's really about quality here. It's a huge project with a high degree of difficulty. Not for nothing is it in the spotlight of architects, the municipality and buyers. On the entire project we work with about thirty masons."

Three architects designed the homes of New Kralingen. The front facades in particular contain a lot of decorative brickwork, using Wienerberger bricks. "We were already involved in the project during the design phase. We made trial walls then, so that the architects could choose the bricks, dressing, mortar and grout color. The work is very detailed and, especially in the beginning, we had to invent the wheel. As it goes, it becomes an increasingly beautiful project that we as a company are enormously proud of," Poppelaars said.

EcoBricks

The biggest challenge so far is in the seventeen court houses, Poppelaars believes. EcoBricks are used there with a joint thickness of 20 mm. These narrow bricks require less mortar with a normal distribution of 12 mm. "With the 20 mm joints we apply here, stability during bricklaying is a challenge. During cold days, the mortar doesn't react much, if at all, which makes it less stable and makes the timing of finishing difficult. In the Dutch climate with rainy and cold days, it is then difficult for us to maintain the required pace. We masons are like farmers; we have to harvest when the weather is good. We too are seasonal."

Building together

Brabotech Masonry provides masonry work in subdivisions for five to six years. The company is part of Heijmans Woningbouw and often works together with Era Contour. This ensures good contacts and cooperation as partners. Poppelaars: "We always say: you build together. You have to look for solutions together and that works well here. We don't avoid challenges, we tackle them together. We are putting away a beautiful product and we are proud that we as Brabotech can be part of this. It will be a special piece of Rotterdam with a beautiful appearance. In the woods and by the water, but still close to the city."