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In Oegstgeest, Waal is building De Limes, a student housing complex with 285 units and a thirteen-story tower. Facade contractor Weerschild is supplying the fire-resistant window frames, curtain walls, and automatic sliding doors. The collaboration with the general contractor is growing, and that relationship began with projects involving metalwork.
Peter Hamstra, director at Weerschild: “We initially did a lot of work with Waal through our typesetting department. It was through that department that we also became involved with window frames.” At De Limes, Weerschild is handling the specialized portion of the work. “Three elements come together for us in this project: fire-resistant window frames, curtain walls, and automatic sliding doors.”
Weerschild has its own factory in Lexmond. It’s compact, and that’s precisely what makes it flexible. Hamstra: “If a job requires slightly different dimensions, we can—so to speak—be back the very next day with a customized window frame. That’s what our factory is designed for.”
That flexibility is essential, because new insights regularly emerge during the construction process. “In the design phase, the emphasis is often on aesthetics, while technical feasibility is assessed later. For example, in this project, there was a desire to combine sliding doors with a fire-resistant grille. Since this combination has not been tested, we are not implementing it. Safety always comes first.” Architectural adjustments then follow, sometimes right in the middle of the project. And that’s where the strength of an experienced team lies, according to Hamstra: “Most of our employees have 25 or even 40 years of experience. We’ve also noticed this with contractor Waal: he appreciates that we not only identify issues but also come up with solutions.”
A practical example of this kind of thoughtful design at De Limes: the automatic sliding doors at the bike rack. “A sliding door always requires a bit of lead time. To prevent collisions between the door and the bike, we position the access card reader slightly further away from the door. This gives the cyclist more time to approach, ensuring the door opens at the right moment.” This prevents unnecessary disruptions in use.
Hamstra prefers to be involved as early as the design phase. “We’re often only asked to prepare a budget or cost estimate, but by then it’s actually already too late. It’s precisely within a construction team that you can make a difference early on, by working together to optimize the design.” Although he sees a positive trend in the industry, he also notes that the construction sector still has a way to go. “That shift takes time, but it starts with the decision to reach out to one another sooner and share knowledge. Let’s take that step together, because that’s the only way we can truly build together for the better.”
