Platform on new construction, renovation, restoration and transformation
Well-known Dutch roller coaster builder Vekoma Rides is to expand considerably. In the Limburg village of Vlodrop, on the former soccer field on Angsterweg, a Vekoma Rides Campus is being built in phases. Between March 2024 and January 2025, Bouwbedrijf van de Ven already realized an assembly hall with warehouse of about 8,000 m2 including five overhead cranes, office workplaces, an innovation center and an experience center. Just after the construction period, the Veghel contractor also started the construction of an office building of approximately 5,000 m2 with several floors, including meeting rooms and a company restaurant. Like the other buildings, this office building will be equipped with the latest technologies to allow employees to work as comfortably, efficiently and innovatively as possible.
The buildings on the Vekoma Rides Campus have a similar basic construction. “For the assembly hall and the warehouse, a steel construction in combination with hollow-core slab floors and a facade of sandwich panels has been chosen,” says Kenny Kastelijn, project manager at Bouwbedrijf van de Ven. “And the new office building will also have a steel structure, in combination with hollow-core slab floors and concrete stability walls. Instead of sandwich panels, a full curtain wall was chosen here, so that the building is wind and watertight as quickly as possible. In addition, this allows plenty of daylight to enter the office.” The curtain wall is enhanced with a composite frame, which provides the aesthetic finish. But also with sunscreen fins and screens, which contribute to a pleasant indoor climate and ensure that employees maintain a good view of their monitors.
The company restaurant will stand tightly against the assembly hall, Kastelijn says. “Once the structural work is complete and the building is completely wind and watertight, we will take care of the breakthrough so that one combined building will soon be created.”
The ball got rolling for the project in Vlodrop about three years ago, when Vekoma Rides started a tender for the new building based on a preliminary design. “We discounted the project, including possible options/optimizations for the first phase, based on which we were included in the construction team,” Kastelijn says. “Together with Vekoma Rides, consultant Phidias, architect LA | Architecten Ingenieurs, engineering firm Verhoeven and Leenders and installer Hoppenbrouwers, we then further developed the plan. Both in terms of detailing, structural principles and materialization, where we are responsible for the complete package. From design to construction, installations, infrastructure work and site layout.” Bouwbedrijf van de Ven is also providing the complete interior design of the office building. From the interior carpentry, the pantries and the acoustic concentration units to the floor finishing, the fixed furniture, the checkroom, the functional and atmospheric lighting and the wastebaskets in the toilets.
A challenge in this project is the short lead time, combined with the multiplicity of work, the high level of finishing and the specific detailing. “But also the coordination with all parties, including the client, so that the best choices are made in every area,” Kastelijn says. Around the 2026 construction period, the new office building should be ready. The same goes for the site design, which includes the complete package of paving, charging poles, lighting, fencing, gates and landscaping.
“The repositioning of the headquarters, assembly hall and warehouse will create space on the current site at Schaapweg in Vlodrop, which is about 150 meters away,” Kastelijn says. “Here, the current offices, old factory and warehouse will soon be (partially) demolished to provide space for the new construction of an approximately 5,000 m2 hall for track production.” This work will also be carried out by Bouwbedrijf van de Ven.
