Specialist construction work in house

The realization of Salt, Pepper & Blend actually involves three buildings with their own logistics, on a tight construction site. M.C. Kersten Constructie engineers, produces and assembles various balconies, balustrades and finishing glazing for the various buildings throughout the construction period. Production and assembly are spread throughout the construction period, partly in prefab and partly on site.

M.C. Kersten Constructie's specialty, "custom structural work," reveals itself fully here, says project manager Marc Roet. "Custom work is our work anyway, we know that in advance, and this involves three different deliveries for three buildings, each with a totally different look and construction logistics. You can't escape managing this project as three projects, but realized almost simultaneously. That is quite challenging, especially since the construction site is tight and the elements have to be delivered and assembled just-in-time. This is precisely why it is so convenient that our company can custom engineer many parts with its own draftsmen, prefabricate as much as possible as required and assemble with its own teams. The production site of M.C. Kersten Constructie is located in Amsterdam-North just 15 minutes from Westerpark."

'Unique profile'

For the "most eye-catching" building Pepper, M.C. Kersten Constructie produced 79 steel balconies in different depth variations. These were mounted fully galvanized and powder coated. Prior to this, the balconies were fully fitted with composite decking and sliding doors, after which the connection against the facade was fixed on site. Says Roet, "For the most part, these balconies are delivered to the job site prefabricated; each balcony is different in size and/or shape." The final four balconies are
now mounted.

The eight hundred glass panels for Salt's French balcony railings were assembled on site, with U-profile attachment to third-party frames. "Again, with the logistical challenge of just-in-time assembly." Blend's glass balustrades, with nine hundred glass elements, required full on-site assembly. Each balustrade is unique in size. "In this case, the solution chosen is also unique. The design of the balustrades - with an extruded aluminum profile designed by M.C. Kersten Constructie - has a bottom profile and a top profile mounted to steel balusters, reducing the need for thick glass."