Monumental school building is transformed into residential project with 37 apartments

The former school building at the Garenmarkt 1a in Leiden is undergoing a true metamorphosis. Van Leeuwen Bouwbedrijf was commissioned by developer Fairtree Capital to realize 37 residential units, designed by architectural firm Van Manen, in the monumental building. Demolition and construction work on the site began in May 2021 and the new apartments will be completed in the second quarter of 2022. The biggest challenges with this project lie in the fact that adjustments to the original plans still happen during the construction process and that the contractors do not identify certain defects until they are effectively performing work.

The older generation in Leiden and surrounding areas knows the stately building on the Garenmarkt 1a primarily as the Luzac College. But actually the building was designed in the early 1980s by Leiden's city architect J.W. Schaap as a High School for Girls. Since October 2000, this building has also been designated a National Monument. "Developer Fairtree Capital bought the beautiful building to repurpose it from school building to residential project with 37 units. It gave architectural firm Van Manen the challenging task of reconciling the monumental core values with the desired comfort level for the apartments as well as possible in the process. The high classrooms of yesteryear lend themselves perfectly to entresols, creating unique apartments," says Albert Bargeman, project manager at Van Leeuwen Bouwbedrijf. "Since we have already successfully completed several projects for the South African client, we were selected for this building as well to perform the construction work within the construction team and also to take charge of the supervision and coordination of the other construction partners, including the installation companies."

Flexibility and expertise important

It is not at all obvious to renovate an outdated school building, which is also protected as a monument, and convert it into an apartment complex. The former classrooms and other spaces in the building are being completely redesigned. Walls will be demolished and new ones built, while all floors will also be replaced. New window frames are integrated into the facade. "In this renovation, we obviously had to take into account the historical value of the building. Among other things, we dismantled and relocated the monumental door frames. All apartments, including kitchen, bathroom and toilets, will be delivered completely finished. We are carrying out a lot of the work ourselves, but for installations, floor finishing and painting, among other things, we are calling on specialists in their fields. We will, however, remain responsible for supervising all side contractors and coordinating the work," Bargeman continues. "As a construction company, we have already completed a wide variety of projects, but a monumental building still presents other challenges. In old buildings you often come across defects that are not known beforehand, but suddenly become visible during the demolition or construction work. As a construction team, it comes down to anticipating such problems flexibly and competently. For example, we found that the repairs to the plasterwork in various places on the facade had not been done correctly in the past, so that many repairs now had to be carried out again. Moreover, adjustments to the original plans were made during the construction process, and a thorough color history study was necessary to restore old elements. Ultimately, this project had to be carried out within a tight schedule, as work started in May 2021 and the apartments will be delivered in the second quarter of 2022. In short: a challenging project that suits Van Leeuwen down to the ground."