Air technology installation for former State Mint building

Pleasant cooperation with client ensures smooth operation

Ventilation and assembly company Soprowa Elsaker provided the former Rijksmunt building in Utrecht with a new air technology installation.

Soprowa works for a variety of clients, primarily in non-residential construction. Examples include offices, hospitals, educational institutions, gyms, swimming pools and assembled residential buildings. With a team of 30 people, the company mainly supplies and installs ventilation systems and soundproof enclosures. From the latter also comes the name Soprowa: it is an abbreviation of Soundproof Walls. 

On this project in Utrecht, Soprowa is working on behalf of installation company Putman. Project leader Jeffrey Duindam: "Putman came to us with the design of the installation and further engineered it. We take care of the implementation: from measuring and delivering the ductwork to installing the air valves and grilles. On this job, you do encounter tricky corners because it is an old building. Regularly our installation is hidden above the ceiling, but here almost everything remains in sight. That looks nice. Twelve air handling units with heat recovery will be installed throughout the building, spread over several locations. In the crawl spaces, space is very limited, which requires customization."

'Making use of the space available'

The monumental nature of the building makes this project challenging, but interesting for Soprowa. "In new construction, sometimes space for installations is still taken into account, but here we have to use the space that is there. This is familiar to us, by the way: we have worked on canal houses in Amsterdam before, for example. There you also have to deal with different floor levels. So far we have not had any setbacks. Only the internal transport is sometimes difficult: we work with three-meter-long pipes with a diameter of four hundred millimeters. Of course, there is no opening in this building to hoist things inside. Everything has to be transported through the existing windows, doors and corridors."

Cooperation with the general contractor and with client Putman is pleasant, Duindam believes. "We walk around the construction site together every week. If we run into issues, we can discuss them immediately. The drawings are well coordinated by Putman. After all, our piping runs along with its piping. When this project is completed, we will have a sustainable installation that will last for years to come." 

At the time of writing, Soprowa is advanced on the project for 25%.