'All good things come in threes'

On the Lage Weide industrial estate in Utrecht, Wouters Schijndel is simultaneously building three warehouses and a parking garage, which together form the DC UTR06 project of project developer Intospace. Work is now in full swing. In fact, completion will take place in phases over the next few months. An interview with project leader Joan Aarts of Wouters Schijndel about the many challenges at this brownfield location, enclosed between the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal and a railroad line.

"The simultaneous construction of three warehouses is not unique, but it does require some attention," Aarts rightly says. "It comes down to teamwork within our organization, especially on the construction site, which is worth a compliment! Internally, by the way, we consider it one project. This is also how we took on the project from Intospace, by now a valued client of ours for many years. It allows us to achieve the necessary synergies on several fronts, such as a combined sprinkler system for the three warehouses so that only one water supply and one pump room are required. This also applies to the combined buffer facility, which discharges rainwater in a dosed manner towards the Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal. An adjustment was even made in the quay for this purpose."

Logistical challenges

All three warehouses are being developed with a BREEAM 'Excellent' certification in mind. Building A includes 20,200 m2 of warehouse, 430 m2 of mezzanine and 4,450 m2 of office, Building B is slightly smaller with 13,400 m2 of warehouse floors, 1,660 m2 of mezzanine and 1,380 m2 of office, and finally Building C covers 21,300 m2 of warehouse, 2,400 m2 of mezzanine and 1,790 m2 of office. "Because this is a brownfield location, it always remains to be seen what you will find in the subsoil," states Aarts. "Extra attention was therefore paid to this during the design phase. We also have to deal with limited space because of the relatively high percentage of buildings and the fact that we are building on an infill site sandwiched between the canal and the railroad. This presents logistical challenges in terms of the supply of materials, especially since we are also building the three warehouses simultaneously. The availability of materials proved to be a problem anyway, causing some delays to the project at the beginning. As a result, as the project progressed, we had to rearrange the schedule even more."

The construction of Building A involved a tenant from the very beginning. "This tenant has laid down quite a package of built-in facilities, including a refrigeration and freezer cell. This is also the reason why we are releasing this building before completion, so that the tenant can start the installation work early and start its activities shortly after completion. So currently there are an awful lot of activities taking place simultaneously on the construction site. That is also where our strength lies. We are organizationally very involved and strong and work with permanent and specialized subcontractors on whom we can rely. That enables us to build high-quality warehouses time and again, such as the three here in Utrecht. The warehouses and the parking garage for 400 cars will be completed as of this moment," concludes Aarts.