Concrete foundation for Paris-Proof office

The expansion of the De Vries en Verburg office in Stolwijk meets the very highest sustainability ambitions. The Pearl in the Polder office building is circular and Paris-Proof. Concrete company Renes proves that such ambitions go perfectly well with a concrete foundation, albeit one that is fully tailored to the requirements.

With the new office, De Vries en Verburg shows what is technically possible if the sustainable bar is set high enough. The building is certified according to BREEAM-NL 2020 Outstanding, WELL v2 Platinum, Paris-Proof (Whole Life Carbon < 200kg CO2/m2) and has an MPG ambition that is 60% more ambitious than the requirement in the Building Code. "Even a sustainable building has to be founded," says Coen Wouda of Betonbedrijf Renes. "People sometimes think negatively about concrete, but it has a lifespan of more than a hundred years."

Basement and screed

Concrete company Renes is a well-known relationship of De Vries en Verburg. "Over the past thirty years we have had the opportunity to carry out many projects for the developer/contractor, and we are often involved at an early stage. This time again, where we were challenged to contribute to the sustainability ambitions," says Wouda. "We made an offer to pour and finish the basement floor and the basement screed. The first we carried out at the end of March and involved an area of 640 m2 and 160 m3 of concrete, the screed of 416 m2 was poured in early May. This involved about 120 m3 of concrete. Both floors were finished monolithically." 

Hybrid concrete pump

To pour the concrete, Betonbedrijf Renes used a hybrid concrete pump from Faber Betonpompen with a 42-meter boom. "All the concrete was pumped completely electrically thanks to a 125 ampere power connection on site," explains Wouda. "The concrete was supplied from Goudse Betonmortel Centrale. Even in this, customization was achieved by applying as many sustainable binders as possible and replacing primary aggregates with various circular granulates. The environmental performance of the supplied mixtures was also externally tested, in order to provide maximum transparency in this as well."

According to Wouda, concrete company Renes is enormously proud of its contribution to the Pearl in the Polder. "It is a huge eye-catcher in our village. As a concrete company, we show that it is perfectly possible to apply concrete, even in projects with such high sustainability ambitions."