Holland Casino, Venlo | Wooden flower is the eye-catcher of new casino

Special design developed by Swiss specialist in timber construction

The new Holland Casino building is a real landmark in Venlo. This striking and sustainable building, designed by MVSA Architects as a flower, was given a facade that is largely fitted with glass and aluminum sequins with interactive LED lighting behind it. The most eye-catching element is the "wooden flower," developed, produced and assembled by Blumer-Lehmann AG, the Swiss specialist in wood construction.

The entire structure is supported by a "stem" 3.2 m in diameter.

The new Holland Casino in Venlo is designed like a flower with a skin, a skeleton, the metabolism and a brain. The pv foil on the roof, the green facade, the bio-based insulation and the sequins with underlying LED lighting form the skin, while a wooden construction in the shape of a flower concerns the skeleton. This 'wooden flower', made with about 300 composite beams, forms a roof of 55 by 45 m, is 25 m high and is supported by a 'stem' 3.2 m in diameter.

One point of contact from design to assembly

The intelligence behind this work of art comes from the company Blumer-Lehmann of Gossau, Switzerland. "We are a market leader in timber construction and use our experience to turn architects' inspiration into real wooden solutions. Every project starts with an architect's idea and we then handle the technical planning, engineering, production and assembly. In many cases, we even take responsibility as a pilot contractor from project development to finished building. The earlier we are involved in a project, the easier it is to steer the design and the greater the basis for successfully realizing that project," says project developer and engineer Jephtha Schaffner.

Every detail of the roof structure and stem was carefully calculated, drawn and worked out in advance.

"For example, over two years ago we were contacted to work with the architect to further develop his idea for the new Holland Casino to be built in Venlo and create a wooden roof structure with a very special design. When Laudy Bouw en Ontwikkeling was commissioned to realize this building, we were approached again in April 2019 to engineer, produce and assemble the wooden structure as a subcontractor. Thereby, it is crucial for the stability of the building, that the entire construction is worked out to the millimeter. Exactly one year later, the 'wooden flower' is completely finished."