Partnership takes construction Lieven to highest level 

Building faster, better and more sustainable

Project Lieven in Amsterdam Nieuw-West was recently crowned BNA Best Building of the Year 2023 in the category Livability & Social Cohesion. With the project, Woonstichting Lieven de Key gives students and first-time home buyers the opportunity to build on their future with independent housing in Amsterdam. The project includes two building blocks on the Rodenrijsstraat, with space for 1,198 students and starters. All homes were built by Bot Bouw, which in cooperation with Knauf looked for ways to build faster, better and more sustainable.

The relationship between Bot Bouw and Knauf goes back about eight years, says Jacco van 't Hof, project consultant at Knauf. "In 2015 we started with a project on Pieter Vlamingstraat, and we have now also carried out Poeldijkstraat in Amsterdam. Meanwhile, Lieven has been completed, so we can rightly speak of a sustainable collaboration. From preliminary project to realization and delivery."

One building system

Construction projects are increasingly being modeled in BIM. This also applies to the finishing phase, explains Van 't Hof. "On the basis of Bot Bouw's BIM model, we make an inventory per project of which dry finishing products fit best. If possible, we recommend one construction system, which allows for faster and (cost) efficient work." In Lieven, shafts of sand-lime brick, residential partitions and corridors of metal stud and interior walls with gypsum blocks were initially prescribed, which meant multiple construction flows, said Erik Beers, chief executive at Bot Bouw. "To minimize this, in consultation with Knauf, we opted for one system of metal stud walls. As a top layer, impact-resistant, sound-insulating and fire-resistant Diamond Board plasterboard was used throughout, which is also suitable for wet areas. This eliminated the problem of dilations. Moreover, we were able to apply the plasterboard after the structural phase, when the floors were already at the right strength. As a result, we needed to stamp less." Van 't Hof: "For all eight phases of Lieven, we worked out a recommendation for the wall and ceiling systems, in which clear color codes overcome assembly errors. The advice was also substantiated with thermal, acoustic and fire-resistant performance."

No waste

In addition to construction speed and (cost) efficiency, the intensive preparation helps prevent waste on construction, Beers emphasizes. In total, Knauf has 236,000 m¹ metal stud profiles and 175,000 m2 of Type A and Diamond Board drywall delivered. "The products were cut to size in advance and delivered at the ideal time. This kept the construction site neat and clean and waste was hardly an issue."