Aluminum cladding gives Salmon Harbor Towers cachet

Thanks to a 215-meter-high tower, project De Zalmhaven will become the new eye-catcher of the Rotterdam skyline. Two flanking towers of 70 meters and a connecting plinth form a visual staircase to the lower Scheepvaartkwartier. Important part of the aesthetics of De Zalmhaven I (highrise), II and III (midrise) is the aluminum cladding, which is engineered, produced and assembled by Aldowa.

"We were approached at an early stage by BAM Bouw en Techniek - Large Projects, to help think about the cladding of the midrise and plinth," says Edwin Nipius, project manager at Aldowa. "The architect's initial idea was to execute the square façade frames in precast concrete, but we designed and engineered an aesthetically high-quality and cost-efficient alternative for this. We made this alternative visible and tangible in a floor-to-ceiling mock-up, which convinced the architect. Based on this mock-up, a few more optimizations were made, after which production was started as early as two months later."

Seamless coupling

For this production, Aldowa purchased, among other things, a new welding robot, which allows the thousands of mitred corners of the frames to be linked and welded fully automatically and seamlessly. "This makes it look as if the frames consist of one whole all around," said Nipius. "Facade frames in 2 mm thick aluminum were chosen, incorporating special settlements/lines. For 98%, the frames are executed in white. At the level of the loggias on the upper floors, a high-quality bronze tone was chosen."

Balcony panels

Shortly after the award of the midrise, Aldowa was also asked to provide the cladding of the precast concrete balconies of the highrise. Again, 2 mm aluminum flashing was chosen, finished in white. "All the balcony panels are already fixed by us at the construction hub, after which the precast balconies are transported to the construction site ready-made and lifted in directly," Nipius says. "This significantly benefits the lead time in the project, while ensuring quality at all times."