Redevelopment residential care center d'Amandelhof: Green and independent living thanks to home automation

The existing residential care center d'Amandelhof in Capelle aan den IJssel dates back to 1974 and was in need of renovation in order to provide care appropriate to this day and age. Because the Amandelpark was also in need of renewal, the owner of d'Amandelhof, Cedrah, and the municipality of Capelle aan den IJssel decided to work together to redevelop the site. This resulted in three buildings, built one after the other. Building A is the care building, Building B provides social rental housing with care at home, and Building C contains more expensive rental and owner-occupied housing. These residents have a parking basement, brasserie, day care, store and terrace at their fingertips. A walkway on the second floor connects the buildings.

Comprehensive administration

The executor of the redevelopment is De Vries en Verburg Bouw of Stolwijk, which was awarded the project under a UAV-GC contract. This makes it ultimately responsible for the execution of the total project. "That has advantages," says Michel van Veluw, project manager at De Vries en Verburg. "We determine how the project will be executed. In addition, of course, we want to be able to prove later that we have delivered the quality described in the Plan of Action. This requires extensive administration with a complete photo album."

Scaffoldless masonry

The way in which the facades of the residential care center are erected is striking. These shoot skyward, while on the construction site no scaffolding can be found, and the sound of bricklayers moving along the gangways is also absent. "That's because the facades are erected scaffold-free," Van Veluw explains. "The façade elements are delivered ready-made, complete with frames, flashings and stone strips, and are installed in one movement. This method offers advantages in terms of construction speed, noise pollution and the end result. It does require more precision. The dimensional tolerance is considerably smaller than with regular HSB elements."   

Beautiful home automation

To provide residents with every convenience, the residential care center will be equipped with many home automation systems. View of the front door, notifications on the smartphones of the care staff and lights that turn on and off automatically support optimal comfortable living. The installation of these facilities involves a lot of piping and wiring. Van Veluw: "The installer made the preparations and Curatec delivered the care system. Together they ensured a beautiful, sleek result. Not a single pipe remained in sight, while the wide slab floors are chock-full of pipes and ducts. These parties delivered true craftsmanship."

By the way, the same can be said of De Vries and Verburg, which is coordinating things and is currently five weeks ahead of schedule. "All the supplies were ordered right before corona broke out. We got lucky with that."  

Project info

Safe, comfortable, durable and innovative

Residential care centers such as d'Amandelhof are familiar territory for Van den Pol. The E-specialist is regularly involved in similar new construction projects. In d'Amandelhof, Van den Pol is responsible for the complete electrical provisions. "We also install the facilities for the People Search Installation (PZI); this is linked to the fire alarm center," says project leader Timo Jooren. "Furthermore, we provide the data facilities. Finely meshed WiFi coverage is connected to this. A camera system supports the caregivers in their work."

For the PV installation, Van den Pol made optimal use of the roof surfaces. LED lighting also contributes to sustainability. "For both employees and residents, good lighting is very important. In the corridors, we deploy a Bluetooth system from Jung for this purpose. This innovation makes it possible to set the lighting completely as desired via an app, for example when it comes to periods and intensity. Caregivers can later easily make adjustments themselves. Given the great ease of use, we will certainly use this system more often."

The automatic blinds add to the comfort of the future residents of d'Almondhof. "It reacts to the light conditions outside. Sensors measure the light from different positions. This ensures that the blinds are accurately controlled; thus, the indoor temperature always remains pleasant."

Builder De Vries en Verburg and W-partner Klimaatservice Holland are familiar parties to Van den Pol. "That certainly contributed to the prosperity of this project," Jooren said. "The planning went smoothly, without peaks or troughs. That's the way we like it."

Construction Info

Client Cedrah, Barendrecht
Architect RoosRos Architects, Oud-Beijerland
Constructor SWINN, Gouda
Installers Van den Pol Elektrotechniek Montfoort and Klimaatservice Holland, Hardinxveld-Giessendam
Construction period September 2019 - February 2021