'In a healthcare project, you have to consider everything'

Complete W and E installation for new Watermill Elderly Psychiatry Treatment Center

Sister companies Klimaatservice Holland B.V. and Elektroservice Holland B.V. are joining forces for a joint project: the new construction of Behandelcentrum Ouderenpsychiatrie Watermolen in Capelle aan den IJssel. The new building is expected to be completed by the end of the year. "Nothing is as changeable as healthcare."

The new treatment center is focused on elderly care within psychiatry. The construction site is located next to the IJsselland Hospital. During construction, the accessibility of ambulances, among other things, must be taken into account. In addition, the construction site is relatively small. On the ground, first and second floors of the new building will be one hundred rooms for residents and general areas, on the third floor the offices for employees. There is also an extra secure ward. 

For Klimaatservice and Elektroservice, work started in mid-2024 during the construction of the foundation. Tino den Besten, project manager at Klimaatservice: "For this project, we are providing the complete W-installation based on an air heat pump installation with central heating, CHP, air treatment and sanitary installations. The entire building will have underfloor heating and cooling. We work here for effectiveness with smaller teams, a total of about ten men at a time. The work in itself is not very complicated, because it's one time thinking out and then a lot of repeating. So it runs well. The pouring facilities are now in the floors and we have made a test chamber. Now we are going to install the piping and ductwork and cable trays on the first floor."

Anything with a cable attached

Sister company Elektroservice Holland is making the complete E-installation for the treatment center. Project leader Robbert van der Sommen: "It started in the foundation with grounding and then we laid all 230V installations, such as the fire alarm system, healthcare cabling, data cabling, PV panels, the access control system and the lighting and emergency lighting installation. So everything with a cable is in our package. We also include the cabling for the control technology for our Climate Service colleagues. It is nice to act as a total installer and the short lines of communication allow us to solve any problems quickly."

Space on the construction site is limited because of the adjacent hospital. In particular, parking space is limited, which requires a very tight schedule for loading and unloading large parts. In addition, the two have to be flexible, as requirements are tightened during construction. Van der Sommen: "For example, it has now been decided that the second floor will be laid out differently in terms of care function after all, and that has consequences for our work. For example, there will have to be two extra pipes in each room so that cameras can be installed in the future. You'd rather know these things in advance, because then you could have poured them into the work. That does create some scheduling challenges. Nothing is as changeable as healthcare, so you have to play it sharp and take everything into account."

Vandal-proof bathrooms

A healthcare facility requires specific components in the installation. So too with this project. Den Besten: "For example, we are building an oxygen system here for nine rooms. Also, the bathrooms have to be vandal-proof and there are secure rooms on the extra secure ward, where employees can monitor residents remotely."

Many parts of the work were predetermined in the client's specifications. For example, the domestic hot water system had to be connected to the heat pump system and not to boilers or water heaters as usual. "That requires a specific system and for that we looked for a special supplier. We have since found one and they also provide support for its installation." 

The two are so far satisfied with the progress of the work. Consequently, cooperation with other parties is going very well. For the same client, Klimaatservice and Elektroservice will soon start a similar project (on the other side of the IJsselland hospital) some 800 meters away.