Building on a fruitful collaboration

Nature's Pride, one of the largest importers of fruits and vegetables in Europe, is expanding. Another 21,000 square meters will be added to the existing premises in Maasdijk, approximately 37,000 square meters in size. The realization of this new section reaps the fruits of a sustainable partnership, which germinated in 2013.

The expansion will give Nature's Pride more space for storing, ripening and packaging fresh produce. The new section will house several ripening cells, a fully automated warehouse and sorting lines with packaging robots. In addition, the new building will provide space for several offices, washrooms and twelve docks. Just as in the existing section, sustainability, efficiency and optimum ease of use are central to the project.

Construction team context

For the realization of the expansion, Nature's Pride chose the parties that realized the existing building eight years ago: De Vries en Verburg as structural contractor, Klimaatservice Holland for the W-installations, Mansveld Elektrotechniek for the E-installations and Van Kempen Koudetechniek for the cooling installations. Project manager on behalf of De Vries en Verburg is Gerben van der Glas. He says: "We are carrying out this work in a construction team context. At an early stage we coordinated the work and planning as much as possible. We also work intensively with ABB, which is responsible for the process installations."

Familiar with each other and the building

The fact that all construction team members had already built Nature's Pride's existing building offers several advantages. "The collaboration is familiar," Van der Glas explains. "We carry out the work as one team. We know each other and know what we can do with each other. Moreover, we know the building. That's handy, since we're building the new section against it. We connect to the ramp. In the new situation, you can also get to the parking deck of the extension via that ramp. We had to slightly modify the technology located under the ramp for the purpose of the expansion. Quite a challenge, since the processes in the existing building had to continue unabated."

Concrete and steel

Implementation of the expansion section began in September 2020. Van der Glas lists the work: "We are building the new building section on vibro-piles and a concrete foundation. The concrete first floor was poured on site. We made the sprinkler basement and the part next to the ramp, where the technology is now located, with hollow-core slabs. The precast shell consists of concrete combined with steel. We made the intermediate and roof floors with hollow-core slabs. The facades are clad with insulated sandwich panels and black corrugated sheeting. On the roof are the parking deck, various installations, a green roof and solar panels."

BREEAM-NL 'Excellent'

The green roof converts CO2 into oxygen and removes particulate matter from the air. The solar panels provide much of the energy needs of the new building. Both applications contribute to achieving the BREEAM-NL certification 'Excellent'. Another way to contribute to this sustainability ambition is the reuse of rainwater. In addition, the new building will be sustainably heated and cooled. Here, the residual heat from the cooling installations is used to heat the ripening cells and office spaces. "The installation work is in full swing," says Van der Glas. "So is the finishing work. We expect to deliver in the fourth quarter of 2021."    

Infra work nears completion

The expansion of Nature's Pride in Maasdijk involves many parties who completed the new building in 2013. That solid core includes JVA Stolwijk, which is performing various earth, street and sewer work for the new building. 

"Between March and July 2019, we also already carried out some work for Nature's Pride," says work planner Erik-Jan van Dam of JVA Stolwijk. "We then laid 20 plug-in spaces, 8 truck waiting areas and 150 temporary parking spaces for visitors and employees. In March 2020, we started preparations for the new building, consisting of rerouting cables and pipes along the existing building. Until the summer of 2020, we laid the construction site. This site was quite wet; it looked like a swamp. Given the start of the breeding season, we had to keep the area "bird-proofed. We did this with biodegradable ribbon." From August 2020, JVA Stolwijk performed the earthwork for the foundation, followed by the installation of insulation under the cast-in-place concrete floor and the earthwork for the interior sewage system. Van Dam: "Finally, we laid the sewerage and paving of the outside area. After the construction period, we completed our work as expected."

Sanitary installations as good as finished

For the expansion of Nature's Pride in Maasdijk, Dorst Installatietechniek B.V. is carrying out the complete S-installations. With the work almost completed, Willem van Rij, director of Dorst Installatietechniek, looks back on a well-run project and a pleasant cooperation.

"We have been involved in the work from the first bit of foundation," Van Rij says. "On behalf of our regular partner Klimaatservice Holland, we are installing the rainwater drainage, sewerage, water pipes, fire hose reels and dry fire lines. The rainwater drainage is a Pluvia system. The drainage system located in the row cells consists of slotted trenches in the first floor. Through these trenches, condensation water is collected and drained." With the installations ninety percent complete, the work is running on schedule. "The cooperation with Klimaatservice Holland, as we are used to, is going fine. We also work pleasantly with De Vries en Verburg and the other parties. With most of them we previously realized the new construction of Nature's Pride. Together we are successfully building on that."

Construction Info
Client Nature's Pride, Maasdijk
Architect Architectural firm Paul de Ruiter, Amsterdam
Construction contractor De Vries and Verburg, Stolwijk