Steelwork for OKU House

Steel balustrades and banisters

Welding and assembly company Van Pommeren provided new construction project OKU House in Amsterdam with various steel fencing and railings. The company designs and realizes diverse projects in steel. From stairs to balcony work, from stamping monumental buildings to providing complete building constructions.

Van Pommeren was involved in new construction project OKU House by main contractor Dura Vermeer. Project Manager Gerrit van Leeuwen of Van Pommeren: "We were working together on another project in Amsterdam, which went positively. We then received a request for quotation for this project for the banisters and slat balustrades in the concrete stairwells, the void, the emergency stairs between the two buildings and the balustrades in
the parking garage."

Efficient production and assembly

Van Pommeren worked on the project in phases. Three stairwells per tower were fitted with balustrades. "We manufactured these railings in our workshop and they were lifted up with an electric mini-crane or winch and prepared for assembly per floor. Then we worked in teams of two or three people from downstairs to upstairs to assemble the railings to the concrete stairs." Meanwhile, the emergency stairs from one tower to another (OKU Office), vide balustrades, emergency door and access with emergency guidance have also been assembled.

Continuously in consultation

Finally, for the office section of OKU Office, which will also house Dura Vermeer, Van Pommeren is making the entrance staircase and main staircase. "The entrance staircase consists of steel beams, which are covered with a luxury wood veneer in collaboration with an interior designer. The main staircase consists of steel stringers and seated treads, which are also lined with wood on the inside." The project was fully worked out in 3D/BIM. This still presented a slight challenge at times. Van Leeuwen: "Working in BIM is nice, but then everyone has to feed and upload the system so that everything is correct. Here we found out during assembly that not everything had been uploaded and therefore did not fit together perfectly. Fortunately, we were still able to adjust the fences and include these changes in further production as well. Other than that, the project went well. We remained in constant consultation and had good contact with the other parties." 

Meanwhile, Van Pommeren is preparing the next project, also consisting of two towers: RottaNova in Rotterdam. This is a joint project of Dura Vermeer and J.P. van Eesteren. "For this we are making the vide balustrade for the balconies of aluminum profiles with glass and the fall-through protection of the skylight. A beautiful project."