New construction Facédo leaves nothing to be desired

From two laptops to two buildings in thirteen years

You may remember the article from 2018, when Urbanism was allowed to write about 10 years of Facédo. Dennis Leijser, owner and director of Facédo then told how he started in 2008: with two laptops, one phone and a used car. At home, at the kitchen table. In 2018, we described Facédo's new building, which provides a place for employees in a special and very comfortable way. We wrote then that at Facédo, people are at the center of everything. It will be no different in 2021, we conclude. We find ourselves in the Leijser office and look out the window together, across the road. There, sheet piles are just being placed on the brand-newly acquired building site. A second building is coming, one that picks up where the current building leaves off in terms of appearance and facilities.

The growth Facédo continues to experience has led Leijser to consider how best to accommodate it. "Relocating would have been an option, but just find premises that you can get out of in a future-proof way. We want to offer our staff the same - or even better - facilities than we already do. We want to be able to further streamline and scale up operations," he explains. Then the land across the road became available. Ideal, says Leijser. "The neighbor's land is only for sale once in a lifetime. I didn't miss that opportunity. Every day I look out the window here and see the progress being made. Then I sometimes think about how we once started, with literally nothing. It's gone fast."

Working in two premises

With the arrival of the new building, a new division of departments will apply. Leijser: "Our engineering department will remain in the old building, along with our service department. A test facility will be realized there, where we can test for wind, water and air tightness. We will set up a professional glazing line in the new hall; we believe very much in prefabrication and unburdening and want to supply as many glazed products as possible. This hall will also be used to store finished products. Our commercial department will also move into the new building. The first floor for 25% will be occupied by an attractive company restaurant, where our employees can eat and relax. Of course, this will be joined by a professional catering kitchen, from which professional catering will take place every day. Our staff can eat delicious and healthy food there, without having to pay for it. Such catering and restaurant are of course also an ultimate piece of hospitality to customers and suppliers who visit us."

The same floor also houses the financial administration department, headed by Debbie Knipping, Leijser's sister. "She is the silent force behind our finances. I am completely unburdened by her. There is no better confidant than her. Because financially everything runs like clockwork, I can fully concentrate on my own work." Facédo is thus a real family business. You can tell that by the atmosphere there and the commitment to the staff. "I remember very well where we came from, how we started in 2008. Work should be fun, for everyone. As an entrepreneur I want to be seen as a colleague, the growth we are experiencing we have only been able to achieve thanks to the commitment of the entire team." If we look one floor up, we will find the management office and the entire commercial apparatus there in the future. Leijser: "My calculation manager Erik van der Weerd is also on that floor, a man from the very beginning. The commercial department now has three estimators, one commercial consultant and a tender manager."

Flying start for the architect

The design of the new building comes from the hand of Robin van den Dungen Gronovius, who used this assignment to launch his own company "RvdDG. "I personally participate in his company, as a consultant. The design of the new building shows how good Robin is, it is a 100% beating business card for Facédo. The exterior combines aesthetics with technology. Transparency is the key word, you look in richly from the highway and inside everything is open and light. That suits our way of working." On the outside, we see a balcony suspended over the water, adjacent to the restaurant. "Ideal for company parties," Leijser believes.

Of course, the new building will be built sustainably and will be energy-neutral. The parking lots will be equipped with a number of charging stations for electric cars. Facédo is also showing again that social responsibility does not stop within its own walls: "We are going to make a deck above the water, to give the many anglers in the area back their fishing spot," says Leijser. "No one complained when their favorite fishing spot disappeared because of our construction plans. However, they deserve their fishing spot here."