Building on growth

Mitari Hijstechniek's new commercial building has a steel structure. Currently in Eindhoven, the first beams and columns are being assembled and the contours of the building are becoming visible. The road to it was one of deliberate decisions.

The relocation of Mitari - currently located in Best - is scheduled for the fall of 2024. With nearly 11,000 m² of gross floor space, the family-owned company will be prepared for the rapid growth it is experiencing for the time being. The layout will be fully aligned with the administrative and logistical processes. This has resulted in a spacious office, a hall for assembly and assembly and two halls for storage in the form of a racking warehouse.

Changing questions

The first conversation between Mitari and developing builder Hercuton took place in 2020. "The idea for new construction was fixed," says Sander Robbe, Hercuton's plan developer. "Part would be for own use, part for rental. But the company was growing like crazy, partly due to new web shops abroad, so the idea arose anyway to keep the whole building for oneself."

Fast switching

Another big question was the construction. Founder Cees Lavrijsen, from his experience with previous commercial buildings, had a clear preference for a precast concrete structure, while his daughter, Terry Lavrijsen, who had since taken over as director, was leaning toward a steel structure. "We then examined all the alternatives," says Jack van den Broek, Hercuton's commercial manager. "Fortunately, we have the full know-how for this in-house. Thanks to our own structural engineers, draftsmen and calculators, we were able to switch quickly and respond to Mitari's wishes. Because this was a high-rise warehouse, a steel structure was ultimately chosen." 

Gaining space

During the preliminary process, Mitari's growth continued unabated and doubts arose again. Was the location big enough? "But we couldn't expand the location," explains Mark Hardy, architect at Hercuton. "We were already going up. We could only gain space by even narrower corridors between the racks. So we went back to the drawing board again. The steel construction now worked in our favor; concrete would not have been suitable for this."

Final bumps

Approval by the Urban Planning and Welstand committees was not forthcoming all at once. Van den Broek: "The Eindhoven Welstand committee had developed an image/quality plan for the Forum industrial estate, inspired by a container landscape with each business building having its own primary color. It took some hours before we had a solution that everyone was satisfied with. Even turning in very large trucks proved to be a challenge. This had an impact on the height of the floors, the width of the doors and the weight of the structure, but that too came together well."

"The great thing is," Van den Broek then concludes, "that the dialogue was never disturbed. Everyone was always understanding at the table. The people at Hercuton realized that this was Mitari's life's work and Mitari realized that she was appealing to our flexibility. This ultimately brought satisfaction and fulfillment to all parties."