AFAS Experience Center | Leusden

AFAS Experience Center: client in construction team

A new office in Leusden should enable the growth of AFAS Software. Designed in-house with a team of consultants; with 750 flex-work places, a fully equipped theater, a restaurant and indoor and outdoor sports facilities, AFAS is opting for a campus model with a strong image. "The AFAS Experience Center is a business card," says founder and member of the Executive Board Ton van der Veldt. "As the client, we are at the controls, using as much innovative knowledge from the market as possible."

Family business AFAS, main sponsor of AZ and namesake of several cultural institutions, currently has 450 employees and is located on the same arterial road as the new construction site. "We are perhaps a slightly different company from the others, you can see that immediately when you enter our current premises," says Van der Veldt. "We advise, demonstrate products and train; that's people work. A new office should give both customer, employee and visitor the feeling that it's all about the relationship." Considered in this way, a company building is a form of marketing its own culture, a business card. "A building in which we can perform optimally and accommodate large groups of people." The AFAS management "went into hiding," so to speak, to work on the design of the AFAS Experience Center; the municipality was enthusiastic, says Van der Veldt. "We presented the design to the city council and organized a 'market day' where it was presented to the contracting industry and said, 'bring it on'." 

Hybrid solutions
The AFAS Experience Center is an ensemble of linked buildings in a rolling landscape with water feature, consisting of an office section with a curved facade and an inviting entrance, a domed theater and a restaurant with vaulted roof, and imposing daylight areas expressed in wraps and skylights, on a spacious 4.5-hectare plot on Olmenlaan. Challenges? "Where not," says architectural project manager Wim Mars, part of the construction team on behalf of AFAS. Smart solutions were necessary to control the ground conditions. In addition, the unusual building design called for hybrid solutions, with custom construction and finishing. "We knew that," says Van der Veldt. "And when we entered into discussions with contractor combinations, we adopted an open attitude toward each other: come up with solutions, even if they are different from those previously offered. We like to be convinced - not by a party saying 'it can't be done,' but 'this is how it can be done and we are going to do it.' That group got smaller and smaller."

Ambition and guts
"AFAS' ambition has been boldly put into the market," says project manager Thijs Haafkes of Dura Vermeer Bouw Hengelo, construction contractor in the chosen Dura/HOMIJ combination. "AFAS has a vision and together we are going to realize it. On a building plot with excellent accessibility, in service of a building with a challenging design and little repetition; logistically it should be possible within the set time frame." 

The AFAS Experience Center is rising on a plot of no less than 4.5 hectares.

"From all parties, we asked for prior involvement," Mars says. "Active commissioning is important, otherwise you end up in a situation where every part of the process has to be negotiated out." Van der Veldt: "If necessary, we part with consultants if the contracting parties offer better solutions. And that has proven to be the case: contractors and producers come up with innovations that convince us. Continued development during execution, in other words."

Impressive steel construction
The parking garage is actually a huge slab of waterproof concrete, and its engineering and execution were perhaps the biggest challenge of the project. Haafkes: "Then it created space to do more in terms of sustainability, a gas-free building with a facade RC of 6, triple glazing and solar panels on the roof." AFAS prefers not to put a label on it. "It is a performance-based process in which steps forward have been taken together." The contours of the building components are now easily recognizable. In the 2019 construction period, the office with its impressive steel structure will reach its highest point. Completion of the AFAS Experience Center is scheduled for the second half of 2020. On January 1, 2021, the company plans to occupy the building.

Critical of details
The externally accessible theater, equipped with stage tower, orchestra pit, five auditoriums, theater cafe and associated technology, is the common thread in the execution. "We plan on a day-to-day level with all parties," Haafkes said. "Starting in February 2018, the buildings will be constructed almost simultaneously with three construction teams and three permanent construction cranes, fully engineered in BIM." No conflicts, but predictability. "A working method that has also led to results within urban areas and with other clients involved." Mars: "We are critical of detailing; for example, Octatube, the producer of the theater dome, already assembled and disassembled the steel structure equipped with lighting and glass prior to construction."