Turnkey construction concept flourishes in temporary housing industry

For this residential complex, Hercuton made one-to-one use of its turnkey construction concept for corporate housing. This unique application planted the seed for a potential growth market.

Hercuton realized the new construction of the Flower Tower on behalf of Peter Ruigrok, owner of employment agency Ruigrok Productive B.V.. "As a turnkey builder, we relieved the client from A to Z," says Hercuton project manager Peter de Bie. "Among other things, we took care of the design, structural calculations, environmental permit, rough and finish construction and infrastructure." Commercial manager Jack van den Broek adds, "There was an important role in this assignment for John Celie, owner of Celieplant/Bouquetnet and Bloominess. The Flower Tower houses his workforce and was developed on his initiative."

Modular construction concept as a basis

The Flower Tower has a total area of 3,913 square meters and 380 square meters of galleries. The five-story, L-shaped building houses 87 apartments and studios with a total of two hundred beds. Says Van den Broek, "The design was created by Mark Hardy, one of our in-house architects, and is based on our modular building concept. The shell is made entirely of concrete, with the grid dimensions derived from the dimensions of our elements. This resulted in a sleek and straight building that visually matches the adjacent commercial properties." Characteristic of the exterior is the finish with natural stone granules and the contrasting, white retracted volumes that rise above the building like battlements. The interior is executed with durable and low-maintenance materials and high-quality finishes in various colors.

Speed, quality and flexibility

On December 10, 2019, the first pile of the Flower Tower went into the ground. The foundations followed in mid-February, and at the end of March Hercuton started assembling the precast concrete elements. De Bie: "One of the advantages of our modular construction concept lies in the quality and speed of construction. Our elements are prefabricated under perfect conditions in the factory and then delivered to the construction site, exactly to the day. There we only have to assemble them." Within this tightly organized process, Hercuton's team also showed its flexible side. "During construction, the composition of the apartments changed," Van den Broek explains. "As a result, we had to take additional fireproofing measures in the apartments. We managed to do that, within the schedule."

Nice concept

Six days before the scheduled delivery, on Jan. 29, Hercuton delivered the apartment complex turnkey. On Jan. 30, 150 employees moved in. "The need for temporary housing is great," says Van den Broek. "That applies first and foremost to the employees and to committed entrepreneurs like John Celie. At the same time, we see that municipalities and provinces welcome this form of temporary housing. With the short-stay apartment building, we therefore have a nice concept on our hands that can blossom into a successful product/market combination."  

Construction Info

Client
Temporary employment agency Ruigrok Productive B.V., Hillegom 

Architect and contractor
Hercuton, Nieuwkuijk