'After completion, it really is their own building'

Working in a construction team

In Houten, Inventum inaugurated its new production hall. Throughout the design and implementation process, the client was an active member of the construction team. This gave room for advancing insight, new ideas and innovative technologies. The building is entirely her own.

Inventum is a manufacturer of heat pumps and boilers. The new hall is designed to produce state-of-the-art heat pumps. There are also an auditorium, an experience center for the installation world and a two-story office. The dimensions are impressive. With an area of some 7,100 m2, the construction of the industrial hall is a project of stature.

Construction team versus traditional approach

The design, construction processes and completion of the production hall came about in a construction team. "This working method cannot be compared to the traditional approach," says Jacob Kolk, general manager of Nieuwenhuis Bouw. "Within the traditional approach, as a contractor you get specifications and drawings and you execute that. In a construction team, there is intensive collaboration. All construction team partners bring in their know-how with insight into the big picture. With this, our task has shifted to coordination and construction advice."

Advancing insight

Business manager Albert Bakker can effortlessly list several examples of decisions that have been adjusted as a result of this approach. "The color schemes for the auditorium and the finish of the concrete stand elements were adjusted on reflection. The 'dust' criterion went from 'low dust' to 'dust-free' due to advancing insight. Knowledge and experience gained during previous major projects were a starting point for the design of the installations. With the help of the applied temperature exceedance calculation, the production hall and auditorium were provided with the best heating and cooling installation."    

Pilot project Wkb

With the Building Quality Assurance Act approaching, project Inventum was also a pilot project for the application of this law. Was Nieuwenhuis Bouw ready to guarantee the quality of building materials and construction processes on a project-by-project basis? "Through previous BREEAM and GPR projects, we were already familiar with quality assurance. Now we know that this law also creates a lot of extra administration," Bakker says. "In addition, I was positively surprised by the expertise of the external independent. Within the existing civil service, I sometimes have my doubts about the expert knowledge on the other side of the desk." And about the application of the law: "It is still very rigid. If quality is secured for 99.9%, it is impossible to get the final certificate. Here, in my opinion, there is still some room for nuance." But about the course of the construction process, not an unkind word. "It was a search for the best solutions and it was fantastic to do this together with the client and a team of experts. This made the property their own from the very first moment."