Five-star hotel with high sustainability rating

'By choosing a mix of building materials, we were able to reduce costs'

Van Norel Bouwgroep is building the prestigious five-star Hotel Berendonck in Wijchen as part of a construction team. The hotel will rise next to Europe's most sustainable wellness resort and will have the same thousand-and-one-night style. The new hotel will have 103 rooms, two restaurants and various meditation rooms. Through a tunnel, guests will be able to enter the wellness complex.

The same construction team delivered the wellness resort De Thermen Berendonck in April 2019. During the realization of the thermal baths, there were already plans for a matching five-star hotel, but a conscious decision was made to separate the permit application for the hotel from De Thermen. Construction is now in full swing, explains Corné Vreugdenhil, project manager at Van Norel Bouwgroep. "As with the wellness resort, this project was set up as a construction team, with the same architect, structural engineer and installer. We are also working very pleasantly with the client; there was no tender beforehand."

A mix of materials

Construction is progressing well and the highest point was reached in mid-April 2024. The shell of the hotel consists of hollow walls, full precast concrete walls, sand-lime brick, timber frame construction, wide slab floors and hollow-core slabs. Vreugdenhil: "The shell was initially designed in full precast concrete, but it soon became clear that this was not financially feasible within the available budget. With the construction team, we therefore came up with alternatives and eventually a mix of materials was chosen. This did increase the construction time by a month, but the quality remained guaranteed and at the bottom line it resulted in significant cost savings."

BREEAM 'Excellent'

As to be expected of a five-star hotel, it gets a high level of finish. The atmosphere matches that of the wellness resort with Indian influences. A great deal of attention has also been paid to sound transmission, so that guests will soon be able to stay there in peace and quiet. The hotel will feature a 180 m2 presidential suite with its own sauna, jacuzzi and steam room. In addition, 32 suites and 70 luxury rooms will be realized. The hotel will be built under BREEAM certification 'Excellent'. This manifests itself in various sustainable investments, such as solar panels, thermal (seasonal) buffer storage in combination with water/water and air/water heat pumps and a high-quality thermal shell, among other things. "The building will be as sustainable as possible, with sustainably generated energy and higher insulation values than required by the Building Code. Energy-efficient showerheads and toilets will be installed. Certain components we buy from specific suppliers who work on the basis of sustainability." But it doesn't stop there. There are also requirements for the construction site. For example, showers and lockers must be present. Vreugdenhil: "Furthermore, we obviously keep the construction site tidy and, for example, we focus construction lamps only on the construction site and not on the surroundings.    

Of course, we are also working next to the wellness resort, which is open as usual. So we also want to minimize the inconvenience to visitors. For example, we used bored piles instead of piles and the radio on the construction site is off." 

Nice reference

Vreugdenhil is proud of the project, which is quite a large project for the construction company in terms of area. "I like the fact that we can enter such a large project together as a construction team. The combination of a five-star hotel with BREEAM certification 'Excellent' is of course a fantastic reference for us." The completion of Hotel Berendonck is scheduled for January 2025, after which it will open its doors to guests in mid-March.