New school building of the RSG in Ter Apel is ready

Next to the monumental school building of the regional comprehensive school (RSG) Ter Apel, Jansman Bouw has realized a new school building. This was necessary, because the existing building had received several extensions over the years and was therefore no longer contemporary, no longer functional and costly to operate.

Text | Tim van Dorsten    Image | Jansman Construction

After an extensive preliminary selection, Jansman was commissioned to provide a new school building to match the adjacent listed building. It was precisely this monumental school building that made the construction work a bit more difficult, however. "We had to take a lot of things into account here," says project manager Joost Versluis. "First of all, of course, during the demolition, when we had to pay attention to the vibrations. But we also had to take this into account during construction, such as when transporting equipment and busing students. That's why we temporarily moved the bus stop and had to think carefully about the access route for the equipment."

A view of the landmark school building.

Timetable

In addition, the time schedule was tight. Jansman received the order for the new building with a gross floor area of about 4,500 m² at the end of April 2019. In the summer vacations of 2019, the construction company started the demolition work. "The building had to be ready for use by mid-August 2020 so that the students could start their new school year in the new building. This was clearly and strictly stated by our client Stichting Openbaar Voortgezet Onderwijs Vlagtwedde, under which RSG Ter Apel falls. We could not afford to run out of time in this regard."

In September 2019, Jansman Bouw started work on the foundation and some three months later, around Christmas, the building was wind and watertight. This allowed the construction company to begin completion in early 2020. "Fortunately, we suffered little delay, despite a wet start to 2020," Versluis knows. During that work, the monumental school building did remain in use. To minimize inconvenience, in addition to the demolition work, the construction company also arranged for the drilling for the heat pumps to take place during the summer vacation of 2019. Thanks to heat pumps with vertical soil exchangers, the school can be heated in a sustainable way.

Clearly distinguishable educational clusters.

Jansman Bouw worked on the new school building together with Van Manen and Zwart Architects from Drachten. This firm has provided a design including masonry in the form of birch tree rows in the facades, the masonry work was carried out by the construction company. The new school building further consists of a steel construction with a facade filling of wood frame elements.

New campus

In addition to construction, the construction company also coordinated the furnishing and decoration of the building and grounds, including the construction of an entirely new bicycle parking area. The new high school building forms the center of RSG Ter Apel, through its canteen function, study centers and accommodation of subjects, among other things. Thanks to the new building, the school consists of clearly distinguishable educational clusters and a recognizable main building that is visible from all parts. Together, they function as a new campus. The completion of the new school building took place in July 2020. Next school year, the landmark 1921 school building will be restored and renovated.

Project info

Two days of no excitement for RSG Ter Apel

During the construction of the electrical and mechanical installations for the new school building of RSG Ter Apel, Otterman Techniek had to take the voltage off the existing school building for two days.

The new building was constructed against the existing monumental school building. The main power supply applied to both buildings, which caused capacity problems. "That's why we replaced the transformer," says Dennis Hanstede of Otterman Techniek. "This meant two days of no voltage. Therefore, together with RSG Ter Apel, we organized an emergency supply for ICT and security. Our client handled this very pragmatically: partly thanks to those short lines of communication, we had a pleasant collaboration."

Commissioned by Jansman Bouw, the installation company provided, among other things, a heat pump with vertical soil exchangers, which provides the school with sustainable heating and eliminates the need for (gas) boilers. This heat pump is on the roof of the new school building, like much of the installation technology. In the school there was not enough space for this. There are also 46 PV panels on the roof which generate around 14,000 kWh annually.

Project info

Burned vapor retarder for roof RSG Ter Apel

Just before the start of work on the new school building at RSG Ter Apel, it was decided to use a burnt vapor retarder on the roof. This allowed work to continue on the interior construction during the past wet winter.

The burnt vapor retarder has the advantage of being waterproof. By applying this to the roof in November, Daktechniek Emmen ensured that work could continue on the interior construction of secondary school RSG Ter Apel, despite last winter's heavy rainfall. According to founder and owner Jack Kuipers of the Emmen-based company, the roof insulation work was a big job. "This was not only because of the wet winter and the roof area of 2,146 m², but also because of the special roof edge. All the raised corners give the building a castle-like appearance." In total, the roof work took 2.5 to 3 months.

According to the specifications, Daktechniek Emmen chose bitumen roofing. "In order to give the roof a longer life, the choice fell on durable bitumen. As a result, the roof is guaranteed to last 25 years," Kuipers said.