Ode to Delft

With Porcelain Tower and Porcelain Court, an iconic duo is added to the streetscape of Delft. The facades of the new residential tower and low-rise building feature high-quality glazed ceramic stone strips with a porcelain look. The stylish combination of mat and glossy white with a modest amount of blue refers unmistakably to the world-famous Delft Blue. Just under 60 kilometers of LeeStrip from Leebo Intelligent Building Systems makes the "porcelain facades" fully demountable.

For more than 30 years, Leebo Intelligent Building Systems has been the specialist in prefabricated facades and lightweight structures, enabling better, faster and lighter construction. "With our insulated LeeboFrame® façade elements, ThermoFrame® sandwich steel frame, LeeBond® aluminum composite panels, LeeBrick® brick stacking system and other intelligent building systems, we offer a total solution for a wide variety of façade types," explains director KeesJan Nieuwenhuis. "With Lee-Strip® we are also responding to the new building era, in which sustainability, detachability and circularity predominate."

250,000 ceramic stone strips 

These principles were also guiding principles for Porcelain Tower and Porcelain Court. "The shell of the residential tower and low-rise buildings is provided with concrete and HSB elements, on which we applied the aesthetic facade finish on behalf of ERA Contour," says Nieuwenhuis. "For this, we engineered an assembly construction with vertical corner lines and horizontal C-profiles into which the stone strips could easily be inserted. In total, we processed about 60 kilometers of LeeStrip® steel strips, into which about 250,000 Agrob Buchtal ceramic stone strips were inserted. The stone strips are 240 mm long and 71 mm high and glazed in matte white (2,370 meters) and glossy white (2,366 meters). In combination with the sophisticated surface distribution and under the influence of the sun, a special hue is created at any time of day, while additional tiles in blue offer an ode to Delft. A minimum joint of 4 mm was maintained between the stone strips, which provides a special shadow line and also allows any tolerances in the building to be accommodated. The day edges, eaves and the edges around the balconies and nesting boxes are finished with LeeBond aluminum composite."

Part of a prefabricated system

Those who choose LeeStrip® are opting for significant material reduction, Nieuwenhuis emphasizes. "Several stone strips can be extracted from a brick, which means that fewer raw materials need to be used. Moreover, the system is fully recyclable. The bricks are slid loosely into the C-profiles, so they can also be easily removed and reused. Only the corners and positions around windows and doors are glued." Following on from the aesthetic facade finishing, Leebo Intelligent Building Systems is also happy to take care of the rear construction, combining sustainability, detachability and circularity with all the advantages of prefabricated construction.