Spider in the web at progressive construction project

Project direction construction Utrecht urban district Cartesius

A new city district of some three thousand new homes is rising in the heart of Utrecht. Sr. project manager Jolanda de Hoog and development and project manager Floor van Dedem of Drees & Sommer Nederland are handling the overall project management for all construction phases of this new Utrecht urban district: Cartesius. This includes the Nicoya building, whose highest point was recently reached. De Hoog recently made the move to Ballast Nedam Development to concentrate even more on project development.

In the construction of the new neighborhood, much attention is being paid to creating a community, biodiversity and sustainability. Construction is proceeding in six phases. Drees & Sommer is involved in the development from phase two, which is currently under construction, through phase six. The second phase includes the construction of 770 rental and owner-occupied apartments. Van Dedem: "We deal with all matters not directly related to one of the buildings, but with all matters surrounding it. We manage the overall planning, determine the strategy of the coming phases and consult a lot with the various stakeholders, such as the municipality of Utrecht, land owner NS and the various teams developing the buildings."

Circular knowledge and experience

Project management and real estate consultancy Drees & Sommer has been supporting companies, government agencies and investors in all aspects of real estate for more than fifty years. Through, among other things, cooperation with sister company EPEA, one of the founders of the Cradle to Cradle concept, the agency has extensive knowledge and experience for complex real estate or housing projects. De Hoog: "If specific questions on various topics arise within a project, we can easily pick up knowledge from one of our colleagues to work together to find the right solution for Cartesius. In addition, Marc and Michel, among others, are involved in the management, supervision and quality assurance of all projects during execution. It is nice to be able to contribute to this project with a larger team of colleagues."

Realizing everything appropriately and safely

What makes this project challenging is that a lot of homes are being built on a relatively small piece of land and with a low parking standard. Van Dedem: "It is difficult to realize that appropriately and safely. Especially during execution, when everything is running simultaneously and buildings are already being occupied. This challenge is precisely what makes it fun. We stepped into a moving train, but by now we have good contact with all parties, which makes everything run smoothly. It is beautiful and challenging to participate in such a large and particularly progressive project in the Netherlands."