Prefabricated facade construction with jointless masonry:

'The customer sustainably unburdened'

'Jointless brick stacking with unlimited design possibilities,' offers Leebo's LeeBrick finishing system. At the new building of the Hermann Wesselink College in Amstelveen (5,500 m²), the system is part of a totally prefabricated custom facade, which, in addition to facade sealing and cladding, even includes E-installations and nesting boxes. "The crux of the matter is that design choices are free and that the building partners are completely relieved in the prefab production," says Head of Calculation/Sales Jan Couwenberg.

For the new construction of the Hermann Wesselink College, Leebo is supplying and installing the proven combination of fully glazed, facade-sealing LeeFrame elements with the LeeBrick finishing system. "A concept based on BIM-modeled steel profiles including fasteners. Tailored to the chosen brick, which can be pre-assembled seamlessly at the factory in all desired sizes, dressings and textures," said Couwenberg. "The architect is completely free to choose the brick type and the prefabricated production method does not detract from the end result."

In addition to the well-known logistical advantages of prefabricated facade construction, such as rapid on-site assembly and ditto facade sealing, a LeeBrick finish offers even more, says Couwenberg. "Namely, a joint-free facade. As is well known, the joint is the most sensitive part of a masonry facade in terms of service life and maintenance; we remove that prospect. The thermal action of the facade is fully provided for in the underlying LeeFrame system, based on an inner leaf that allows for large spans and is composed primarily of custom frames. The façade sealing in Amstelveen, including glazing with aluminum frames pre-fabricated in the factory, is already in place before we begin the assembly of the final finish."

A mock-up in the factory.

Complete relief with free choice

In cases, the interior walls of the school are already finished when Leebo begins the final "set construction" according to the LeeBrick system. "Apart from the fact that we work with different elements and there is little logistical space, we can always use our own cranes and telescopic handlers. Also in this case, with a narrow alley at the back and an existing school building on the construction site." That this puts quite a bit of preliminary logistics on Leebo's plate, Couwenberg is used to. "You can imagine that prefab production of masonry facades in the factory places different demands on production logistics than the manufacture of aluminum composite, as in the case of the well-known LeeBond facades. We custom-make each element; even the brick factory cannot yet achieve that." The end result is a complete facade realization between November 2019 and June 2020, designed to size and produced on time. "Including E-installations for lighting and monitoring, as well as nesting boxes for swallows and bats. Based on good preparation, we can achieve this: 75% of the production size is already ready in the factory at the start of assembly. In this way, we offer a complete unburdening of facade construction, within a concept with free choice."