A new start for Axia College

Special building for special education

In Amersfoort, the brand-new Axia College will rise next year: a special school designed especially for children in need of extra support. The construction of this ambitious project is in the hands of BINX Smartility, an integral construction and installation specialist with expertise in the education sector, among others. How is it tackling this challenge? Team leader Rik van Laar shares all the ins and outs.

BINX Smartility is a unique company within the utility construction industry. "We represent a complete project and take design, realization and maintenance under our wing," says Van Laar. "We build for the long term and therefore always go for quality. We like to go that extra mile."

BINX Smartility excels in integrated projects, where construction and installation are seamlessly integrated. "We exclusively do projects in utility construction," Van Laar continues. "Educational buildings are our flagship, but we also work a lot on healthcare facilities and sports centers, for example. And we always do that from A to Z." With smart technologies such as presence detection, legionella control and multi-sensors that optimize the building's climate, BINX realizes the buildings of the future.

A stunning design

Axia College, a school for over 500 students with additional support needs, is getting a brand new 6,767-square-meter location. This new building combines three existing branches in Amersfoort into one modern educational institution. Van Laar: "In this new location, the students are in the spotlight. Axia means 'value.' Not for nothing did SVP Architectuur en Stedenbouw choose to let the building literally shine. This unique design lets the special students shine."

Building integrally for the future

The range of tasks of BINX Smartility in Amersfoort is comprehensive: from design to implementation and maintenance. The new cooperation between these various disciplines is crucial here: "Our strength lies in integrality. We sit together with all the experts, enabling us to make quick choices that are good for both design and construction and operation. By putting all heads together from the beginning, we ensure an optimal final design."

BINX Smartility worked intensively to coordinate issues such as acoustics and robustness of the building. "The type of student requires a special approach," said Van Laar. "The school has to be robust and low on stimuli. That's why it has to meet very strict noise requirements, for example." As a result, the sports halls to be realized on the second floor above the practice rooms must be completely acoustically decoupled. BINX Smartility ensures that lessons can be taught everywhere at the same time, without students being disturbed by each other.

Of course, as icing on the cake, BINX Smartility also makes the building smart. Smart technologies ensure that the building can be maintained and cleaned more efficiently. It also becomes more flexible and future-proof. Is maintenance needed anyway? Then it is reported to BINX Smartility via the BINX dashboard, customer portal or the app at the touch of a button and everything is working properly again in no time.

The last few months

The realization of Axia College will be another textbook example of how BINX Smartility embraces challenges and transforms them into opportunities for its expertise to shine. The completion date is scheduled for June 2025; well in time for the new school year. Van Laar is confident: "There are always challenges; that's part of the job. But we are on schedule and everything is going the way we want, so I am looking forward to the next few months."