Flooring in common areas as the final step in construction

The final piece of a new residential building

Laying the floor isn’t done until almost everything else is finished. The plasterer, wallpaperer, electrician, and finishers must all be done before the floor can be installed. In Spoordok, the first residential complex in Hanzepark in Lelystad, Uniek Floors handles that final step.

Spoordok comprises 107 rental apartments, spread across three buildings, each with its own height and color. Builder Ter Steege is constructing the complex for the Centrada housing authority. Uniek Floors is supplying and installing the PVC flooring in the common areas: the hallways, the entrance, and the baseboard trim. Tenants will eventually decorate the apartments themselves according to their own preferences. The company previously collaborated with Ter Steege on the De Doelen project in Lelystad. Following that success, the contract for the station area was awarded.

Advice on Quality

The interior designer chose the flooring based on color and appearance. Uniek Floors then assessed whether that choice was technically sound for a building with heavy foot traffic. “Fire safety is the most important factor,” says owner Tommy Potocco. “And, of course, quality.” By that, he means the flooring’s slip resistance, wear resistance, and UV resistance. The manufacturer provides certificates with every floor, so that the builder and fire department can verify that the material meets those requirements.

Depending on the supply chain

Uniek Floors is one of the last contractors to arrive on the construction site and is scheduled to begin work on this project in the fourth quarter of 2026. That means their work depends on everyone who comes before them. “At the end of the day, there’s always something that gets in the way of your work. So you have to be flexible,” says Potocco. He lives in Lelystad himself and regularly stops by to check on the progress.

From the Coronation to Lelystad

Potocco has been doing upholstery work for nearly forty years. His most remarkable job: on the night before King Willem-Alexander’s coronation in April 2013, he installed the flooring for the stage and the seating in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. “In the last sixty years, only two people have done upholstery work for an inauguration, and I’m one of them,” he says with well-deserved pride. And the residents of Lelystad? They’re getting flooring from a purveyor to the royal household.