411 new construction homes at Jaagpad in Alkmaar

Just seven meters from the North Holland Canal

In Alkmaar, a major effort is underway to reduce the housing shortage. Four building volumes along the Noordhollandsch Kanaal, varying in height, color and appearance, will soon offer a varied range of housing for every pocket. 

To prevent the 411 apartments on the Jaagpad in Alkmaar from forming a closed wall along the Noordhollandsch Kanaal, the architect chose heights of five to 12 stories. Phase IA includes a semi-underground parking garage and 228 rental apartments, spread over three buildings. Phase IB will have a two-story, fully sunken parking garage and 183 rental apartments. 

Relocation of municipal monument

To make room for construction, a chimney of the former bleachery, more than thirty meters high, had first to be dismantled on the Schermerweg road behind. Over its entire length, the monument was sawn into seven pieces of about five meters. These are now stored behind Ouwehand Bouw's chain park, where they are being restored. After completion of the Jaagpad, the chimney will be restored to its former glory.

Smart use of space

In setting up the construction site, Ouwehand Bouw Katwijk has to be smart. A large part of the building site is taken up by the parking basement, so for materials and equipment it has to rely on a site across the Schermerweg road behind it. Here it also sets up the chain park and parking lot. 

Commercial interests

Then it's time to get started. "The project consists of rental and owner-occupied apartments," says Frits de Koning, project developer for Ouwehand Bouw Groep. "From a commercial point of view, you want 70% of the owner-occupied apartments to be sold before the start of construction. That is not yet the case. Because the rental apartments have already been purchased by an investor, they are now being realized first. In addition, the client has chosen to realize the two-level sunken parking garage as well, because otherwise the lead time of the construction and thus the time from purchase to completion for the buyers would be too long. Now this is considerably shorter and we expect to start the owner-occupied apartments after the construction of the parking garage."

Construction challenges

With extensive experience in high-rise buildings, Ouwehand Bouw Katwijk anticipates a smooth construction process for the eleven-story apartment building. But in the realization of the parking basement, considerable challenges still present themselves. With only seven meters away from the Noordhollandsch Kanaal - a serious canal with a lot of commercial traffic - the sheet pile walls for the parking basin are exposed to high pressure and counter pressure must be applied to the encroaching subsoil. "On this we removed the soil and at the same time filled the trough with water," says De Koning. "When the water level was up to elevation, we used underwater concrete to pour the huge monolithic subgrade. This meant a non-stop concrete pour of two and a half days!"

"I've really been in the construction business for a while," De Koning then explains. "But the use of underwater concrete, divers and sounding boats checking layer thickness, that was still new to me. I stayed up for it."